Christmas at the Burrow
by Rita Arabella Black
Summary: This is sort of a sequel to Hard to Get. The story of Charlie and Gretchen continues and it takes place after Ingrid's mother, Jessica has passed away. Charlie and Ingrid spend Christmas with the family at the Burrow.
1. Chapter 1

_Based on characters created by J. K. Rowling._

**A/N: This is sort of a sequel to **_**Hard to Get**_**. The story of Charlie and Gretchen continues and it takes place after Ingrid's mother, Jessica has passed away. Rita**

Chapter 1

It was a surprise for Molly Weasley when she opened her door to find her four year old granddaughter, Ingrid, standing in front of her. Ingrid was holding a large package in her tiny arms, and she grinned and her eyes lit up when she saw her Nan.

"Grandma! Surprise!" Charlie had coached on her speech the minute he'd planned the surprise visit to the Burrow, so she'd have it right. At four, Ingrid loved to talk and she loved surprises even more.

Molly screamed excitedly and grabbed her in a bear hug.

"Don't squeeze her so tight, Mum," Charlie said stepping from behind the side of the house. "You'll kill her."

Molly screamed again and tried to squeeze both of them. Charlie laughed and kissed his mother and handed her a neatly wrapped light blue package that looked like it may have come from an expensive jewelry store. "Happy Christmas, Mum."

"Is Gretchen with you?" Molly asked. Gretchen was Charlie's fiancée.

"Uh, no," he said quickly. "I'm afraid it's just the two of us."

Molly arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Can we come in, or do you want us to spend Christmas on your stoop?" he asked, avoiding the look his mother gave him.

Charlie thought his mum was going take Ingrid and run into the house and leave him outside. Molly was extremely protective when it came to her future daughter-in-law. But she stepped aside while he and Ingrid walked inside.

Molly was too happy to start anything, but she gave him the 'we'll talk later' look as she called to Arthur. "Daddy! Look who's here," she shouted.

Arthur appeared at the top of the stairs and flew down when saw Ingrid and Charlie. Of course he grabbed Ingrid first and swung her around. She giggled happily.

"How's my girl?" he asked.

"Fine," she said politely, "and how are you? Were you surprised?" she asked. "Because Daddy said you would be surprised."

"I was indeed, Precious," Arthur said. Arthur looked around the room. "Where's Gretchen?" he asked.

Molly raised an eyebrow and said tightly, "She didn't come."

"Oh," he said knowingly.

Charlie ducked into the kitchen. "Do you have anything to eat?" he asked grabbing a piece of homemade bread from the table. "Ingrid hasn't eaten all day." He took a big bite of the bread. "Oh, before I forget, Minnie will be here as soon as she convinces the Department of Magic to let her demon dog into the country." Minnie was Charlie's house elf. Charlie had given her a Chihuahua dog that seemed to hate everyone except Minnie and Ingrid. Charlie, who had always had a way with magical creatures, couldn't understand Hercules at all and called Hercules the hound from hell.

Molly was delighted that Minnie was coming. She was always such a big help. Minnie wouldn't let her work in the kitchen and it felt good to be able to put her feet up and let someone else do the housework. Molly also knew that Minnie would tell her everything she wanted to know about why Gretchen wasn't with them. Had they had a fight? Was he cheating on her? Had she come to her senses and left him?

Molly Weasley loved her son Charlie probably more that the rest of her children, although she would never admit that; but she honestly thought he was a bit of a rake. She was convinced he would never settle down. Having custody of Ingrid since her mother died, did seem to settle him down, she admitted. Now she was convinced that Charlie had done something to push Gretchen away. Fear of commitment; she wasn't sure because he had committed himself to taking care of Ingrid.

"Mum?" Charlie interrupted her thoughts. She looked up at him and he smiled. "Did you hear me?"

Molly blushed. "No, sorry. I was thinking about something. What did you say, dear?"

"I'm going to have to go back to the Ministry later today and check on Minnie. Would you like to come? I thought I'd take you all out for lunch, maybe meet George and Ron in town?"

"That would be lovely, dear," she said.

Charlie was fixing Ingrid a sandwich while Arthur was still fussing over Ingrid. Ingrid was showing her grandfather everything in the purse she was carrying. It was very neatly organized and it must have been magicked because she pulled more and more trinkets, toys, and dolls until there was a huge stack on the table. The final thing Ingrid pulled out was an odd muggle contraction. She grinned as she handed it to Arthur.

"This is for you, Granddaddy," she said proudly. "It's a, a…"

"Surge protector," Charlie supplied, licking jam from his fingers. "You plug electrical things in it."

Arthur was absolutely delighted. He held it up proudly and examined it closely, oohing and ahhing over the contraption. "Look at the end; that's an American plug, is it not? I've seen that before. What did you say it was?"

"Surge protector," Charlie said. "Ingrid found it at a store and thought you'd love to have it."

"I do! I do! Marvelous. Thank you, Ingrid. I'll put this with my other plugs. Molly, did you…" But his voice trailed off. His wife didn't share his enthusiasm for all things electrical. He sighed happily and took Ingrid outside to the shed to put it away.

Charlie watched them go and he went back to making the sandwich. He knew his mother was watching him and he grinned to himself. He was going to wait for her to ask. He didn't have to wait long.

"So, Charlie, is everything all right between you and Gretchen?"

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

Molly looked frustrated. "You two are still engaged after, how long has it been? When are you getting married?"

"We've been engaged for two years," he said. "We didn't want to get married while Jessica was alive." He looked at his mother's expression. "I know you don't understand that; you never really liked her, I know, and I don't want to talk about my relationship with my daughter's mother. It's hard enough, okay?"

Molly was chagrined. Of course, Charlie didn't want to talk about Jessica. He'd been there for her in her last stages of her illness before she passed away. Although their relationship was impossible, Charlie loved her very much. Charlie always wanted to save everyone, and it killed him that he couldn't save the ones he really loved.

"I'm sorry, dear. It must be hard for you."

He nodded and put the sandwich he'd made for Ingrid on a plate and poured her a glass of milk. He was avoiding looking into his mother's eyes because he knew she could see everything in his.

"As a matter of fact," he said suddenly, "uh." He blushed a deep crimson and looked down at Ingrid's plate. He cleared his throat. "Yes, it has been hard for me."

Molly looked at him. That wasn't what he started to say, she thought, but the question she was just forming was interrupted by Ingrid rushing into the house pulling a very out of breath Arthur. "Daddy, you should see all those things. They're neat. I told Granddaddy I'd send him our toaster for his collection."

Charlie chuckled, "You'd better ask Minnie first. She's rather attached to the bloody thing."

Molly made a face at his vulgarity. "Charlie, your language," she pointed out.

"Sorry, Mum," he said and Ingrid laughed at his expression. "Ingrid, sit down and eat, please."

"Did you cut it for me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Charlie said.

"May I have chocolate milk, granddaddy?"

"Ingrid," Charlie said warningly. "You know better. No chocolate milk. And don't ask your grandfather. That's not fair."

"Why can't the child have a little chocolate milk, Charlie? It's not going to kill her, for Merlin's sake." Arthur said.

Charlie and Molly both gave him the same look and Charlie laughed. "Believe me, Dad, you do not want a sugared up four year old. No sweets."

Molly watched her granddaughter and she slipped a glance at Charlie, who was watching her lovingly. She sighed happily. "How long can you stay?" she asked.

"Oh, I thought we'd stay until New Year's, if that's okay. Is the family coming in for Christmas?" he asked.

Molly nodded. "It'll be a true reunion. It'll be wonderful. I'm so happy you're here, Charlie. We do miss you and Ingrid terribly."

"I know, Mum, and I miss you, too. I'm glad we got to come."

"What are you not telling me?" she asked.

Charlie laughed. "What makes you think…" he looked at her expression and grinned. He kissed her cheek and gave her a hug. "As a matter of fact, I do have something we need to talk about."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Charlie absently played with Ingrid's hair as he watched her eat. He didn't know how to talk to his mother right now and he was trying to think of the best way to drop that bombshell with the least amount of collateral damage. Although he thought he knew what her reaction would be, he wasn't one hundred percent sure, so he was hedging.

He was just about to open his mouth, when Ingrid piped in, "I can't wait to see Uncle George and Uncle Ron. They own the joke shop, you know. Uncle George wants to make a deal with Daddy."

"What sort of deal?" Molly asked.

"Product promotion," Charlie said. "The 3W's have a contract with the USA Quidditch League for official USAQL products, and George wants me to promote some of the products. Since I'm so famous and all," he joked.

"How exciting," Molly said. "Like what?"

Charlie shrugged. "Not sure. I'm supposed to meet with them and their marketing department while we're here. The Reds' owners think it's a wonderful idea." He had a tinge of sarcasm in his voice.

"Daddy's going to be doing commercials," Ingrid said. "Like on television."

"Television?" Arthur piped in. "How wonderful. Do you think we can watch?"

Charlie nodded. "Sure. It's probably too late for Christmas, but we'll see how good George's marketing team is. I'd like to get it over with the sooner the better. I'm not thrilled with the idea, but Guy Bingly told me to man up and take one up the, uh, take one for the team. I'm sure there are other players who will be doing the same thing. I wouldn't even consider it but," he shrugged, "it's family. What can you do?"

"Well, you _are_ the face of American Quidditch," Arthur said. "It makes perfect sense."

"I guess," he said, grimacing. Charlie never understood his popularity with the press. He simply loved the game and just wanted to play. He was the most popular and most famous Quidditch player in America.

"Daddy, can we please go see Uncle George and Uncle Ron now?" Ingrid asked after she took her plate and glass to the sink. She wiped her mouth daintily with a napkin. "I'm ready to go now."

Suddenly, there was a loud "POP" and George appeared in the Weasley's kitchen. Ingrid jumped when she heard the noise; the sound always scared her a little bit.

"Oh, Uncle George. You're here. We were going to your store to see you." She sounded a little disappointed.

Charlie laughed and gave his brother a manly hug. "She thought she'd be getting a new toy. What did I tell you, Ingrid?"

She made a pouty face. "I wasn't going to ask for anything."

"Yeah, right. Well, I'll tell you right now, you're Uncle George is immune to the charms of children, especially cute little girls." He tapped her on the tip of her nose and she giggled. She didn't believe for one minute anyone in her family wasn't immune to her . She was a beautiful, sweet, and extremely polite little girl. She knew she could get what she wanted from her granddaddy, and Charlie was a sucker for her, too.

When Ingrid's mother died, Charlie was with at her side. He held them both until she slipped away. He took full responsibility for Ingrid, but he kept her last name, Johansen, out of respect for Jessica. She was doing much better, but she still woke up in the middle of the night crying for her mother. Minnie took excellent care of her and slowly but surely she was turning into a bright, very normal little witch.

"Oh, I don't know, Charlie," said George, "I might have a little something here I'm not using at the moment." He dug into his pocket and fished out a brightly colored kaleidoscope from his pocket and handed it to Ingrid. She squealed with delight gave her uncle a big hug.

"Thank you so much," she said. "I have always wanted one of these."

"So," Molly said, smiling. "Everyone knew you were coming but us?"

Charlie nodded. "I'm shocked that everyone kept the secret. But I'm glad because the look on your face was priceless. And I was hoping you wouldn't mind."

Molly gave her son a look and then smiled broadly. She touched his face. "I just wish Gretchen could have come."

Charlie stepped back quickly and turned away from his mother, leaving her standing with a confused look on her face. "I don't want to talk about it right now, all right? Come on, Ingrid, let's get ready to check on Minnie." He took his daughter's hand and they went upstairs where their luggage was already unpacked and the clothes were neatly put away. He dug into a dresser and pulled out a dress and a pair of tights. He slipped her dress over her head and quickly put the new dress on. He helped her put on her tights and she picked out the pair of shoes she wanted to wear. Ingrid was very fussy with her appearance and Charlie learned early on she wouldn't wear just any pair of shoes; they had to match her outfit.

"I'm sorry, Charlie," Molly said. "I didn't mean to pry."

"I know," he said buckling Ingrid's Mary Jane's. He kissed his daughter on the top of her head and she sat watching her father and Molly.

Charlie stood up and looked at his mother. She couldn't read his expression, so she waited for him to speak. He started to say something, but shook his head. _Why was this so freakin' hard,_ he thought.

"Are you coming with us? I still want to take you out. And I thought we could do some Christmas shopping."

Molly sighed. "Of course, dear. I need to pick up a few things as well."

This was the stiffest either of them had been with each other. Normally Charlie could tell his mother everything.

"I don't know how long this is going to take. The mutt isn't magical, so I don't know how that'll work out. It might now be a big deal at all, but Minnie won't stay here if the little bastar--, uh, Hercules won't be let in."

"I'm pretty sure they will make accommodations," Molly said. She played with the hem of her apron.

"Are you ready, Ingrid?" Charlie asked holding his hand out for her. She nodded and took his and Molly's hand.

"I don't want to apparated. I don't like that," she said.

"Don't worry. We'll floo. You like to floo, don't you?" he asked.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Ready, Nan?"

"Just let me change clothes and I'll meet you downstairs," she said, pulling off her apron and patting her hair into place.

Charlie and Ingrid bounded down the stairs. George was eating a sandwich when they came down.

"Well?" he asked, swallowing a piece of bread and then taking a large drink of ice cold milk. "How did Mum react when you told her?"

"Shhh," Charlie said. "I haven't exactly told her yet."

George raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Don't wait too long; she's going to kill you, you know?"

"I know," Charlie said quickly. He heard a noise from behind him. He turned around quickly and saw him mother standing at the bottom of the stairs with a murderous look on her face. "Oh shit," he said under his breath.

"Charlie Weasley! What have you done now?"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Molly had a look on her face that Charlie hadn't seen since he was a teenager. Her mouth was turned down and if looks could kill, George would have been making funeral arrangements. But instead, George found it amusing that his mother was yelling at someone else for a change.

"I didn't do anything," Charlie countered. "_Goddammit_!"

Everyone in the room looked at Charlie, absolutely astounded that he would dare swear at his mother like that. He let out a loud breath.

Gawdammit!" Ingrid repeated in the stunned silence. George began to chuckle until Molly caught his eye, and he covered up the laugh with a cough. Charlie made a face and shook his head. "No, Ingrid, you know you aren't supposed to say words like that. Daddy says them because he's ignorant."

"Sorry, Daddy," she said.

"All right, Mum," he sighed heavily. "You got me. There is something I have to tell you. Come in the kitchen, all right?"

Molly's lips were still pursed and she didn't say a word as she led the way into the kitchen. George and Arthur discreetly hung back, but there was a crafty smile on George's face. He gave Charlie the thumbs up sign for support and he winked at him. _Go for it,_ he mouthed. Charlie wiped his hands on his trousers.

Molly sat at the table, still not speaking. She had no idea what was going through her son's head. Whatever it was, she didn't think she'd like it.

He sat next to her and put his hair on the tall back of the chair. He licked his lips. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. "Shit," he managed.

"Is this about you and Gretchen, Charlie? I just need to know that much."

He nodded. He cleared his throat again and blew out another breath. "You asked me about how Gretchen and I are doing and when we were getting married, and…"

"Never mind, Charlie, I'd rather not hear it. You know how much I love Gretchen and how wonderful I think she is for you."

He nodded. "Yeah, about that," he began. "The truth is and I have been discussing our future."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" she said, making it two syllables.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake, Charlie, spit it out," George said from the living room. "If you don't tell her, I will," he promised.

"No, I got this. It's just, well, Mum, I know how much you love Gretchen and well, we've been talking, and we kind of decided on a Christmas wedding. This Christmas. Here. At the Burrow. Christmas Day." He held his breath for his mother to comprehend what he'd just said.

Molly stared at him blankly. She turned toward Arthur and they looked at each stunned. "You want to get married here in less than a week?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah," he said casually. "Is that going to be a problem?" He saw the expression on his mother's face and said quickly. "You don't have to do anything. Addison Miller's going to take care of all the details."

George looked impressed. "Your publicist?" he said trying hard not to laugh.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"How many people?" Molly managed.

"Uh, no more than a hundred, two at the most. No, I'm kidding; actually I don't really have all the numbers, but Gretchen's been keeping count so when she gets here, she'll know."

Molly swiped her son on the arm. "I thought you two had broken up. What is wrong with you? I'm so happy." She grabbed him and hugged him tightly while Ingrid laughed and clapped her hands. Molly swatted him again. "Finally!" She hugged him again and began to cry.

"Mum, don't cry." Charlie said. "I was nervous about telling you. I have no idea why."

"I know," said George. "Your commitment phobia."

He shrugged and laughed, "Well, there's that. I kept thinking Gretchen was going to see through all my bullshit and leave me. But she's hung in there."

"Where is she anyway?" Molly asked, cringing at his language.

"Gretchen and her family are in New York buying her dress. Apparently that's a big deal. Her sisters are getting outfitted, too. They should be here day after tomorrow. The whole Wallace clan'll be here."

"Where are we going to put everyone?" Molly asked.

"Oh, don't worry, like I said Addison is taking care of everything, including accommodations and all the details. All you have to do is sit back and relax," Charlie promised.

"I hope you're right," Molly said, dubiously.

"Oh yeah, Addison's a genius. Don't worry about a thing. I mean, seriously, what could go wrong?"

Everyone, including Ingrid, looked at him like he had lost his mind.

**A/N: I know, I know, too short. Sorry.-- Rita**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was surprisingly easy at the Ministry of Magic, probably due to Charlie's celebrity status. He really hadn't abandoned Minnie at all; she'd told him to go see his family while she waited on her beloved pet to be released. The minute Charlie showed up, everything seemed to fall into place and they were allowed to take Hercules and go. The Minister of Magical Creatures insisted on talking to Charlie about his work at the North American Dragon & Magical Creatures Preserve. The Minister, Mrs. Peavy, said that she had visited the preserve once and was looking forward to visiting it again in the near future. He talked to her about the research and the discovery of several new magical creatures that no one knew existed. He'd been involved in the expedition and was thrilled to talk about it.

No one else seemed as intrigued as he and Mrs. Peavy were, and the rest were getting anxious to leave. Arthur, who had taken the several days off for Christmas, insisted on introducing Ingrid to his co-workers. Ingrid, who clearly loved being the center of attention, happily indulged her grandfather. Minnie, clutching a very sleepy Hercules, followed Arthur, not letting Ingrid out of her sight.

Several people from the Magical Games & Sports Department came out of their offices when they learned that Charlie was in the building. They were huge Quidditch fans, of course, and were eager to meet the famous Charlie Weasley. He spoke with each one and signed autographs.

After they were finished at the Ministry, they went to Diagon Alley for some last minute Christmas shopping and to show Ingrid how the shops were decorated for Christmas. She'd never been there before and was having the time of her life. She kept asking to see her favorite uncles' shop, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, the real store. Gretchen worked at the 3W's in Pflugerville, and she'd been there several times, but she wanted to see the _actual_ store. Uncle George was happy to oblige. It took all the energy Charlie had to keep Ingrid from running madly through the shop. He grabbed her and took her upstairs to the business office where George and Ron shared an office with a huge portrait of Fred, who at the moment was sitting behind an elaborate desk reading a list of who knew what. When the door opened, the portrait Fred looked up and grinned, waving to Charlie. Ingrid had never seen a portrait animate before and she stared at it.

George introduced her to Fred and she smiled shyly. She couldn't keep her eyes off the painting and when they were finished visiting, Charlie went to pick her up, but she began screaming and crying and she kicked frantically as Charlie tried to hold her.

"Ingrid, what is wrong with you?" he asked becoming very agitated. "We need to leave."

"Daddy, please, may I have one like that?" she said, finally settling down.

"One like what? Your Uncle Fred? It's just a painting. I can get you a picture of your Uncle Fred, if you'd like."

Ingrid looked at her father and big tears welled in her eyes. "Can I have one of mommy? I want to talk to her, too."

Charlie was caught off. Suddenly his eyes watered. His voice was very thick as he said quietly. "I'm sorry, honey, we can't do that. I wish we could, but your mother wasn't magical like us. I'm afraid it only works for witches and wizards."

Her lip trembled slightly. "I talk to mommy all the time; I just wish she could talk back. I miss her so much."

He kissed her forehead. "So do I, sweetheart. So do I."

Charlie was quiet the rest of the afternoon. He responded to attempts to draw him into the conversation, but his answers were clipped responses, and his smiles never quite made his eyes. Molly recognized his dark mood immediately. Charlie was always the happy kid, who never seemed to let anything bother him, but Molly knew differently. He mourned silently for creatures and the lost souls he couldn't save.

When they had finished their Christmas shopping and had a wonderful meal (any meal Molly didn't have to cook was wonderful, according to her) in town, they returned to the Burrow. Ingrid was exhausted and Minnie put her to bed immediately and then disappeared for the night but not before doing all the laundry and picking up the kitchen. Molly loved that little house elf.

George didn't return to the Burrow because he was meeting Angelina for some last, last minute Christmas shopping, and Ron had a date with Hermione Granger, his fiancée. They all promised to come by the next day to meet Addison who was supposed to tell everyone what his or her role was in the upcoming wedding.

Molly, Arthur, who was napping in his favorite chair and Charlie were in the sitting room, listening to Christmas music and watching the fire. It was very peaceful and the only sounds other than the music were the crackling of the fire and Arthur's soft snoring. Charlie was just about to excuse himself and go upstairs to bed, when Molly said, "I want to talk to you about the wedding."

Charlie stretched his arms over his head. "I told you there's nothing for you to worry about or do; Addison is a miracle worker. Believe me; it's going off without a hitch. You just have to sit back and look beautiful."

Molly shook her head. "No, that's not want I want to talk to you about."

He looked at his mum curiously, who looked like she was struggling with something. "If you're going to tell me she's too good for me, I already know that," he said smiling.

"No, dear, I wanted to talk about Ingrid. I saw her today, she isn't over her mother's death yet; don't you think it's too soon for you two to get married?"

"I never thought I'd hear you say that?" Charlie said honestly. "I thought you couldn't wait for the two of us to get married."

"Well, you know how much I love Gretchen, but I've never seen Ingrid like that before. How does she feel about Gretchen? And more importantly, how does Gretchen feel about Ingrid? And what about other children? Does Gretchen want to have children? How do you feel about that?"

"It doesn't matter what Gretchen thinks or wants or doesn't want; I 'm not having any more children," he said flatly.

"_Charlie Sylvanias Weasley!" _Molly said loudly, causing Arthur to stir.

"Oh, shit, Mum, I must be in real trouble; you've never used my middle name before," he said, trying to lighten the mood.

"I've never had to before. What are you saying, it doesn't matter what Gretchen thinks or wants or doesn't want? Have you discussed with her before?"

Charlie rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well, no, not really. But she knows how I feel. I think."

Molly let out a cleansing breath and shook her head. "No, this will not do. You have to talk to Gretchen. What if she wants children? She'd be a wonderful mother."

"Yes, she loves Ingrid like she was her own. But she isn't Ingrid's mother. I love Ingrid with all my heart, Mum, but let's be honest; I never wanted children. You've always known that."

"I never knew that and besides, doesn't Gretchen have something to say in the matter?"

Charlie looked at his mother , surprised. "No," he said, shaking his head. "She doesn't."

**A/N: Okay, Charley Sylvanias was my grandfather's name. I love the name.—Rita**

**And yes, Charlie's being a butt head.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Molly stared at her son with her mouth open. "You've been in America too long," she said. "You can't be serious about what you just said."

"Gretchen knows how I feel," Charlie said. "We talk about everything."

"I cannot believe that she knows that you don't think what she has to say doesn't matter."

"Mum," he shook his head, "I don't want to talk about it anymore. Aren't you happy that I'm finally getting married?"

"Not if you're going to act like a complete arse."

Charlie gave a startled laugh. "All right then, I promise not to act like an arse. Forgive me?" He kissed his mum on her cheek. "That's one of the million reasons I love you, Mum, you don't take my bullshit." He pulled her into a hug and whirled her around. "And just between the two of us, I'm one of the most whipped men in the wizarding universe. There's nothing else I wouldn't do for Gretchen."

Molly looked annoyed, or tried to. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stay mad at her sweet Charlie. He knew it, too and more often than not, took subtle advantage.

She chose to ignore his 'nothing else' line; for now anyway. "I'm glad you finally admitted it; the big bad macho doesn't fit you," she chided. "I know that you're a real lamb."

"Shh, Mum, don't give it away. I have a reputation to uphold."

Molly snorted. "I'm glad that phase is over. I got so tired of seeing you in magazines with those slutty women."

Charlie grimaced and then laughed. "I thought you didn't buy those magazines."

She looked flustered. "I don't, uh, I just happened to… Look here, Charlie," she said, stammering.

He laughed. "It's okay, Mum, I'm glad that phase is over, too. It took me a long time to grow up. I think having Ingrid helped me a lot; when I realized I wasn't the most important person in the world. It's also kind of devastating if you think about it. And the icing was meeting Gretchen." He sighed happily. "I'm one lucky guy."

Molly was about say something that she'd regret, so she just clamped her lips together and smiled. "You are, indeed. I'm glad you recognize that now."

"Oh believe me, I know." Charlie smiled to himself. He missed Gretchen. They hadn't seen each other in almost two months because he was at the dragon preserve and he didn't get much time off. He bought a house for Ingrid and Minnie near his friends, Mike and Lindsey Hendershot, but stayed mostly at the Preserve at nights. Gretchen stayed in Pflugerville. Being away from each other was probably the motivating factor to finally set a wedding date. They had planned a small wedding with just friends and family; his friends and her family, but Gretchen wanted his parents to be a part of it, too. Since most of the Weasley kids had been married at the Burrow, it make sense to have the wedding there. It was probably going to be a logistical nightmare because he invited everyone from his Quidditch team; his friends from Austin, Travis Davis and his sister Amanda and the two's Tex's; and friends from the preserve.

If he'd given it any real thought he would have brought his family to America; but the idea of getting married at the Burrow sounded romantic to Gretchen. Before Addison, his publicist got involved, it was snowballing out of control, but she was a genius and promised a storybook wedding for Gretchen and a no-hassle fun day for the Weasley's. Charlie gladly handed the whole thing to her and promised her a bonus and a sack of gold if she pulled it off so his mother didn't have to do anything. Addison pooh-poohed the extra gold; she was doing it just for fun and she loved her job. This was when she arranged with George and Ron for Charlie to do the promotional work for the 3W's. Nothing like killing two birds with one stone, she told him.

Very early the next morning, Molly sleepily walked downstairs. There was a persistent rapping on her door, and when she pulled it open, a very beautiful woman with white flowing hair was standing there. She had her finger up in a 'this will just take a minute' gesture and she held a cup of coffee in the other hand and she was talking to herself. Addison had arrived. She kept talking while Molly let her in.

"Darlin'," she said in a cute Texas drawl, "can you tell mewhy am I standing in front of the mother of the groom and there are no tents? I believe ya'll promised me twenty-five tents already set up in the Weasley's pasture. I'm looking at the pasture, where are the tents? They were supposed to be set up today. I know it's five thirty in the morning. We're burning daylight here. Do ya'll want me to tell the mother of the groom that ya'll can't do the job you are being paid a lot of gold to do? When? In fifteen minutes? Darlin'! That's great. Thank you so much. Love you. Bye now."

Addison grinned and gave Molly a thumbs up sign. "Mrs. Weasley, I'm thrilled to finally meetcha. Charlie told everythin' about you. Isn't our boy wonderful? Can you believe he's getting married in three days? _Oh my God_. Hold on," she held up her hand before Molly could say a word. "Do ya'll have any coffee?" she whispered to her. Molly nodded numbly and walked over to the cook stove where she started making a pot of coffee.

_Thank you, _Addison mouthed. "Kingsley! This is Addison Miller. That's right! How are you doing, hon? Great, just great. " She giggled. "That's so sweet. You did get the invitation to Charlie's wedding, didn't you? Great. Listen, I'm over here at the Burrow, and, oh, they're fine. Uh huh." She giggled again. "I've got about, whew, about a hundred people that I have to get over here from America in, wow, two days and I thought who else knows how I could do that but Kingsley Shacklebolt? Oh, darlin', that's so sweet. You're my hero. I'll come over later this morning, all right? What?" she laughed and stuck out her tongue, "why, I'd love to have lunch with you. I can't wait to see you again. Bye now."

Addison blew out a breath and took her ear piece out of her ear and threw it on the table. "Thank you," she said taking a cup of coffee from Molly. "Your home is beautiful. Charlie told me all about this place and I knew this is where he just had to get married. I don't want you to worry about anything," she said. "I've got it all under control."

"Miss-miss Addison," Minnie said as she popped into the kitchen. "Master Charlie Weasley will be happy to see you. Minnie happy to see you, too."

Addison jumped up and hugged Minnie enthusiastically. "I'm so glad you're here. I was worried that Hercules wouldn't be able to come." As if on cue, Hercules peeked his head out from Minnie's duster pocket and barked loudly. He struggled to get out and then he jumped into Addison's arms, licking her enthusiastically. Addison hugged him, too. "What a sweetie," she cooed to the dog.

"We're going to have such a great time," Addison assured them. "The tents should be here now." She looked out the window. "Ah, there they are." She stuck out her tongue again.

Molly was overwhelmed by Addison's enthusiasm. She seemed to be going in four directions at once. Molly was glad that she was there and was taking care of everything. She had never seen anyone as dedicated as she.

Addison took out her PDA and began writing notes as she sipped coffee. It didn't take her very long before she had the telephone stuck in her ear again. The phone did not cease ringing the whole time she sat in Molly's kitchen. She was amazing, able to have conversations with Molly, Minnie, and whoever was on the device she described to Molly as a blue tooth, whatever _that_ was.

Charlie got up an hour after Addison arrived. She was on her sixth cup of coffee. She had put her hair up in a tight bun and frantically kept making lists.

"Oh, Charlie, great, you're up. The tents are here for your guests. They're set up like a hotel and then there's the one that will be where the wedding and reception will be held. I have a meeting with Kingsley Shacklebolt today and he's so graciously agreed to help coordinate getting half of Austin here in time for the wedding. Gretchen and her family will have their own tent, of course. Grandma Wallace will be here Christmas Eve; she's not traveling with the rest of the family." She finally let out a breath.

Charlie yawned and kissed his mother good morning. He poured himself a cup of coffee and sat down next to Molly. "Gretchen's going to be here tomorrow, right?"

"Ooh, good news, she, Tilly, and her sisters are coming in tonight. Well, I've got to get to the Ministry. I'll pick them up and bring them by if you'd like."

"What time?" Charlie asked.

"It'll be late, probably around eleven. They can stay in town if you'd like; I know they'll be tired."

Charlie shook his head. "No, I'll put them up and we probably will stay in town. I haven't seen Gretchen in two months."

"Oh yes, of course. I'll arrange for a couple of rooms for you and the girls." She scribbled a note in her PDA.

_Finally_, Charlie thought as he watched her write everything down. _Tonight I'm going to get lucky_.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Addison flitted around Molly's kitchen, never sitting down. She kept a cup of coffee in her hands and stayed on cell phone.

"Is she all right, dear?" Molly asked Charlie. "She seems a wee bit, uh, wired."

Charlie shrugged. "First time I met her I thought she was on pixie dust. It's just her personality. When she's 'on', she irresistible. I swear she's half Veela. She's perfect for her job. And she seems to love it."

"I witnessed part of that," Molly said. "I can't believe she talked the Minister of Magic into helping her with your guests."

Addison looked up and grinned at them and went back to charming the florist that the timeline was not impossible and she had all the confidence in him in the world. Charlie pictured the poor man standing up taller and sucking in his stomach, going gah-gah over her. He didn't stand a chance.

"Well, I really have to meet with Kingsley now. I got the rooms for tonight; I got three," she grinned and winked at Charlie. "I'll see ya'll later. Oh, is there anything I can pick up for you, Mrs. Weasley? While I'm out?"

Molly shook her head and hid her grin behind her cup of coffee. "No, thank you, dear. Do be careful."

"I always am," she said heading out the door. Charlie and Molly watched her disapparate outside the kitchen window.

Charlie watched as an owl flew closer and closer. "I haven't seen one of those in a long time," he commented as the bird tapped impatiently on the paned glass. Molly opened the window and the bird hopped inside. The owl was carrying a magazine or tabloid neatly rolled in its beak. Molly looked a little flustered and grabbed the magazine quickly and pitched it into a drawer. She was blushing as she tried to ignore Charlie's smirk. She paid the owl and sent it on its way.

"More coffee, dear?" she asked pointing her wand at the coffee pot.

"No thanks," he grinned. "What's with all the intrigue?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. Are you hungry?" She stood in front of the drawer.

"Yeah, I can eat." He turned to his house elf. "Minnie, why don't you get Ingrid up?" he asked.

"I'll get her," Molly said happily, forgetting about guarding the drawer. She shuffled out of the kitchen and up the stairs. Charlie watched her leave and pulled out the drawer and removed the brown paper wrapped magazine. He tore away the paper and saw that it was the latest copy of _Witches!!!, _a combination Quidditch-gossip magazine that, more often than not, featured sensational stories about USA League Quidditch players; most especially him. The featured gossip writer was a very attractive witch named Linda Martinez. Back in his bachelor days, he and Linda had had several affairs. Now she seemed to be committed to destroying his relationship with Gretchen. She wrote especially cruel stories about Gretchen, always commenting on her very ample breasts (which were two of Charlie's favorite features) or the fact that she wasn't skinny. It seemed that Linda went to excruciating trouble to find pictures showing Gretchen in a bad light.

He sighed heavily when he saw the cover. It was Gretchen in New York along with her two sisters coming out of a bridal store. The headline read, _Looks like a Christmas wedding for Charlie and Gretchen. _She was struggling with her coat and was trying to carry an enormous garment bag that had just been picked up by a big gust of wind. The wind had swept up her blouse as well, exposing a very sexy bra. Charlie smiled at that. Since they had been together, Gretchen's choice in lingerie had definitely improved. He closed his eyes for a second imagining him taking off that bra as he playfully… _Oh shit_, he thought, shifting uncomfortably trying to loosen the stricture of his suddenly too tight trousers. _God, he missed her._ He started flipping the pages of the magazine looking for Linda Martinez's article. He didn't really want to read it because he knew it would be catty. Apparently she'd not gotten over the fact that Charlie had moved on. He sighed when he saw the glaring headline, _My Money's on Charlie Bailing. _He knew it would bother Gretchen and he hated that.

He jumped when Molly came back into the kitchen carrying a very sleepy Ingrid. She was wearing her fairy princess night gown and her strawberry blond hair was sticking straight up with static electricity. She grinned when she saw her father and Minnie.

"Hey princess," he said. "Did you sleep well?"

She nodded and yawned, rubbing her eyes. Molly popped her into the chair next to where Charlie was leaning. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head, smoothing down her hair.

"Where's Grandpa?" she asked looking around.

"Still asleep," Molly said.

Ingrid made an unhappy face and Minnie jumped up. "Minnie will get grandpa," she said, but Charlie held her back. "Let the poor man sleep. He needs his rest if he's going to be running after Ingrid all day."

Molly noticed the magazine on the table next to Charlie and rolled her eyes. She made a grab for it and Charlie didn't stop her. She quickly put the magazine into a drawer and started to make breakfast, but Minnie had beaten her to it. Molly started to say something, but Charlie shook his head.

"Mum, if Minnie doesn't get to take care of us, she'll think she's a failure and she will punish herself. Sit back and enjoy a few days off."

Minnie looked at her expectantly. Big fat tears began welling up in tennis ball sized eyes and she sniffled. "Minnie wants to help gracious Master Charlie Weasley's beautiful mother."

"It's okay, Minnie. Go ahead. Merlin knows I could use a break. Thank you." Molly said it with such sincerity that even Charlie almost believed her.

The rest of the day was spent just spending time together. Ingrid was a ball of energy and she played inside with her grandparents and Charlie. Addison popped in a few times with progress reports. The guests would begin arriving the next day and her tent city was in place and had turned into a palatial retreat.

Both Ingrid and Arthur went to bed early. Ingrid had played herself out and Arthur had never been so tired. Charlie hung around until his mother went to bed, reminding her that he was going to sleep in town after he picked up Gretchen and her family. He disapparated around a quarter to ten and when he apparated at the Ministry of Magic, he waited impatiently for his fiancée in a special lounge for dignitaries at the ministry. While waiting, he let his imagination take off and by the time the representative announced their arrival, he knew that if he didn't get to make love with her this night, he'd explode.

She looked incredible. Her face lit up when she saw him and she dropped everything she had in her arms and ran to him. By the time she reached him, she was crying. He kissed her with all his emotions, telling her in that one kiss how much he'd missed her. He was sure that if her parents and sisters hadn't been with her, he would have taken her right then and there. He held on to her like if he let go she would disappear. Ignoring everyone around him until the discreet cough brought them both back to reality.

He shook Dan's hand and hugged Tilly and the girls. "We're staying in town tonight because it's so late, but we'll go right to the Burrow tomorrow morning. Everything's been taken care of."

The Wallace's sighed collectively. It had been a long, harrowing day. All they wanted to do was to go to bed. Addison popped in and escorted them to an inn in Diagon Alley. The first to get settle were Tilly and Dan, followed by the girls. Charlie stayed with them until they made it up to their room. Charlie waited patiently until Xan and Roxie were secured in their room. They girls thought Gretchen would be staying with them and complained about the lack of space. When Charlie told them that Gretchen would be staying with him, they gave them odd looks and Roxie would have said, "I'll tell Mom" but Xan shut her up and giggled.

Charlie didn't care what the room looked like; he wanted, no, needed Gretchen right then. The minute the door was closed he led her to the bed and laid her down. He whispered to her as he kissed her gently and told her over and over how much he loved her and how much he'd missed.

Gretchen answered eagerly; undressing him and moaning with desire as he kissed her neck and breasts. "I've missed you," she said and whimpered as arched her back in order to get closer to him.

"I don't think I can wait," he told her breathlessly.

"Then don't wait, I need you, too." She pulled him closer to her and cried out as he took her.

It was over before Charlie wanted it to end, but he'd wanted her so badly and she turned him on more than any other woman he'd ever known.

"Oh, Baby," he said holding her as they tried to recover. "I'm sorry," he said running his finger on the marks he'd left on her neck and breasts. He kissed them tenderly.

She giggled. "Marking your territory, are you?" she kidded. She looked at herself in the huge wall mirror. "Oh dear, I hope my dad doesn't see these; he'd kill you or force you to make an honest woman out of me."

Charlie kissed her. "Hmm, kill me or make an honest woman out of you. I think I'll take the latter option."

Her eyes were closed and she was drifting off to sleep. She smiled and sighed, "I'm glad."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

They made love twice more that night and fell asleep in each other's arms, sated and contented. Charlie always slept later than he meant to when they were together because his mind was blissfully peaceful. So it was not surprising when there was a loud beating on the door, waking him from one of the best dreams he'd ever had. Gretchen snuggled in the warm blankets as Charlie jumped up, pulled on his trousers and opened the door.

"What?" he said rudely.

"Mom and Dad are looking for Gretchen," Xan said, trying to peak into the room.

Charlie yawned and nodded. "Okay, thanks," he said, shutting the door on her.

He walked back to the bed and watched Gretchen. She was still wrapped in the warm cover and he playfully pulled it away from her. He got back into bed and she reached for him.

Half an hour later, Charlie and Gretchen walked downstairs to the breakfast room. She had gotten rid of Charlie's marks, except for one, and they both looked totally rested. She looked around the room looking for her family, when she grabbed Charlie's arm and froze.

"Charlie," she whispered, "what is she doing here?"

Charlie looked at the yellow-dressed figure in the corner. "Shit," he said. The reporter, Linda Martinez was sitting with a group of others Charlie didn't recognize. She glanced up and smiled a lazy cat-like smile. She turned back to her companions who turned and looked at Charlie and Gretchen.

"Don't worry, darling," Charlie said, "she won't bother you directly. Ignore her."

One of the conditions that Addison guaranteed when she became Charlie's publicist, was she would keep Linda Martinez and the rest of the hyena press away from them. He trusted her to do just that.

Xan spotted Gretchen and Charlie and began waving frantically from across the room. Roxie was sitting next to her engrossed in _The Daily Prophet_. They found their way to the table and sat down. Immediately the server approached them and Charlie ordered coffee. Gretchen was still a little unsettled about seeing Linda, so she decided not to order breakfast. The last thing Gretchen wanted to see was a picture of her in a tabloid magazine with her mouth full of food. She knew exactly what Linda Martinez would say about it.

Charlie grabbed a sweet roll off the plate in the middle of the table and offered her a bite. She glanced over at Linda's table then shook her head. He was in a very good mood, but Gretchen's insecurities were about to ruin it. He didn't understand why she just didn't tell the reporters to 'piss off' and go on with her life; that's what he did.

"Let me see your hand, Gretchen," he said holding out his for hers.

Confused, Gretchen held out her right hand. "Not that one, the other one," he said, grinning at her. She raised her hand and put it out. "Look at that big-ass ring on your finger."

Blushing, Gretchen looked down at the 10 carat yellow diamond that took up most of her ring finger.

"What does that tell you, sweetheart?"

She looked up and grinned. "That I won,"

He threw his head back and laughed. "Damn straight. Screw those people. Their job is to make people like us miserable; we're too happy for that. I fell in love with you," he said, emphasizing the word. He kissed her hand. She ducked her head down as she blushed more. He put his hand under the chin and pulled her face to his. He sighed happily and kissed her.

They were in the middle of deepening the kiss when Dan and Tilly Wallace came in. Dan was bundled up warmly and had a camera around his neck. They both looked fascinated by everything they saw. They'd never been to England before and the wizarding community in America was so different from the one here. Americans blended in more readily with muggles than the English wizards.

"You know," Dan said, totally ignoring Charlie and Gretchen as they jumped apart when he sat down, "this is like walking back in time. Amazing."

Tilly nodded in agreement. "This is so old-timey. I love it!"

"They live separately," Dan said. "Amazing," he repeated. "Wouldn't you just love to live here? My, my…"

"Dad," whined Roxie, "you're embarrassing me."

"Sorry, Pumpkin," he said. "Tilly, we have got to get a set of matching dress robes. They look very comfortable, just the thing for lounging around the house. I don't think anyone in America's worn a witch's hat since before the Salem Trials. And a broomstick! I have got to get me one of those. It's like I'm rediscovering my roots."

Tilly smiled and nodded as she always did when Dan got on one of his tangents. She liked the quaintness of it, but she certainly didn't want to give up the twenty-first century. "Where were you, dear?" Tilly asked Gretchen abruptly. "We were looking all over for you this morning. Xan said you were already down here but we looked."

"I was with Charlie. We haven't seen in other in a long time. He wanted to know all about our shopping trip."

_Not really, _Charlie thought, but he nodded in agreement. "You got Ingrid a dress right?"

That set all the girls off. They found her the most adorable flower girl dress; actually they found several that she would look so cute in. It took a while, they told him but they found the _perfect_ dress.

Charlie was zoning out by that time; all the taffeta and pearls and bows didn't do a thing for him. But he was a good groom-to-be and acted as enthusiastically as necessary. He just wanted the whole damn thing over with.

Addison popped in a little while later. She immediately spotted Linda.

"She's not bothering you is she?" she asked.

Charlie shook his head. "She hasn't tried anything. Yet."

"She won't. I promise you. I had a request that you let the press in." Charlie was already shaking his head.

"Hell, no."

"Right, but the _Daily Prophet _gets an interview, and the marriage announcement is running in Sunday's edition.

"Some of your friends are already here. I was just on my way to pick them up and take them to the Burrow. In fact, I have your port key if you're ready to go. I've already taken the Wallace's luggage and I just have to get Gretchen's dress. I had it pressed because it was a little wrinkled from the trip. I'll have it taken directly to your tent."

"Thanks, Addison," Gretchen said.

"I'm going to see about the port key," Charlie said, "I'll be back in a minute." He kissed Gretchen and headed off.

"Remember your bridal shower is tonight at the same time as Charlie's bachelor party," Addison said.

"A bachelor party?" she asked, grinding her teeth.

"Yes, his friends are throwing him one; it's supposed to be a surprise, so mum's the word."

"Which friends?" she asked.

"Old school chums," Addison said cheerily. "And some of his old friends from Romania."

Gretchen looked worried. Addison rubbed Gretchen's arm, reassuring her. "He'll be fine; just a lot of drinking and stuff."

"Yeah," Gretchen said sullenly, "it's the _stuff_ I'm worried about. Any naked girls jumping out of cakes?"

"Uh, I don't know; I doubt it. I'm sure that's not going to happen," Addison said, although she really didn't sound very convincing.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Charlie's old friend, and fellow Quidditch player, Oliver Wood arranged his bachelor party. He kept the location secret until the minute he picked up Charlie and the rest of his friends at the Burrow, or the Burrow compound as they began calling it.

Oliver rented a club in the muggle section of London; he'd arranged the entertainment which consisted mostly of strippers, more alcohol than in some small countries and music that would deafen the average person in twenty minutes. Oliver loved to do things in a big way and he was very anxious to show everyone how much he loved his old school chum. He also arranged for a scaled down version of the Reds' Quidditch pitch for a pickup game later on when everyone was drunk.

Charlie didn't have much of a chance to be alone; old friends popped in to wish him luck, most of them unconvinced that the eternal bachelor, Charlie Weasley was really getting married. He took it with good humor, because he himself wouldn't have believed it a few years ago.

Some of Charlie's old friends from Romania came in for the wedding. He hadn't seen Rufus Beardsley, Mark Bonds, Peter Walls, and Adolfus Abbott in several years, but here they were, looking exactly as they did the last time he saw him: drunk on their asses, trying to impress the ladies with their macho tales of dragon wrangling. Charlie's friends from the North American Dragon Preserve where there as well, not everyone, but Ricardo "Boo" Sanchez, Pete, Jack, & Mike Hendershot , Charlie's best friends made it in. Charlie introduced each to the other and they spent the rest of the evening talking about dragons.

All the members of Charlie's Quidditch team were there, including the newest member, Gilda Peterson. Charlie hadn't met Gilda before but he's heard a lot about her talent as a seeker. She seemed to hang around Jordan, but she was the only female there that wasn't a stripper so Charlie thought she might feel a bit uncomfortable. Jordan's wife, Joanna, was supposed to show up later because she was after all, Charlie's best man, but their son, Brandon, wasn't feeling well, so she was stuck back at the Burrow. It didn't seem to bother her that Gilda appeared to be joined at Jordan's hip, and no one else on the team said anything about it either.

Charlie was about to find out the inside scoop about what was going on in the Reds' camp, but Oliver, who was extremely drunk by this time, dragged over a very pretty stripper for a private dance for Charlie. Charlie, who was equally intoxicated, invited the girl to sit (on his lap) before the actual performance.

"You don't remember me, do you?" the girl asked.

Charlie tried to focus, but he shook his head. "No, we've met?"

She smiled slyly. "You could say that. Remember me? Lavender Brown?"

"Holy shit!" he said, almost knocking her off his lap. "Damn," he said catching her before she fell on her ass. "You look good."

Lavender wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered. "So do you. I'm not really a stripper," she giggled, "but I'm helping out a friend of mine. Oliver wanted as many strippers as he could fit in here, and my friend was desperate."

"Well, you certainly look good enough to be a stripper," he said. He thought about what he said, and started to apologize, but Lavender waved him off.

"I know what you mean," she said.

"Have you seen Ron yet?" Charlie asked.

"No," she said quickly. "I'm not really looking for him, now am I? I'm here for you."

"I don't really want a dance, Lav, you want a drink? And we could just talk."

She nodded and suddenly a drink was in her hand. She drained the amber liquid quickly and sat the glass on the table. "Looks like I have some catching up to do."

"Are you seeing anyone?" he asked.

She shook her head and downed another shot. "No one special."

"I thought you were seeing old what's his name. What was his name?"

Lavender laughed again. "No idea. The last person I went out with was, uh, you."

"Gah, seriously? How long has it been?"

She shrugged, downing another shot. "A million years."

Lavender waited patiently as more and more friends of Charlie came up to him, congratulating him on the wedding.

"If I had any money, I'd bet that no one here believed you'd ever get married."

Charlie grinned and picked up his glass and took a long swallow. "You're right."

"You've broken a lot of hearts, you know."

"I'm sure everyone will survive," he said.

"I'm dying for a fag," she said. "I'll be right back."

"I'll go with you. I can smoke this cigar someone gave me."

"It wasn't either of your brothers, was it?" she laughed. "It might explode ."

Charlie pulled out the cigar from a very expensive looking cigar case. "No, I know better than that; my boss gave me a box of Cubans, pretty sure they're all right."

They walked up a flight of stair and walked out on the balcony that was the designated smoking area. Lavender reached in her beaded bag and drew out a pack of smokes and a silver lighter. She shivered a little as she sat on the banister.

"Cold?" Charlie asked, throwing his coat over her shoulders.

"Thanks," she said. "I guess I'm not dressed for the out of doors." She was wearing a very revealing, shimmery outfit that was no doubt part of her costume.

She let Charlie light her cigarette and she watched as he lit the end of his cigar.

"So, Lavender," he said blowing out a puff of smoke, "how the hell have you been?"

"I'm good," she said. "Still working with my uncle. We're planning a trip to America in the summer. He's still looking for relatives. "

"Where in America?" Charlie asked conversationally.

"Salem," she answered.

The conversation died a little for a while. They sat smoking, looking out over the city. She started to shiver a little, and Charlie opened his arms and she walked into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed happily.

"Much better. I should go back inside," she said.

"Don't," Charlie said hugging her tighter. She snuggled in closer and before he could think about it or stop himself, he kissed her. She moaned as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back with the same enthusiasm.

"Merlin's beard," she said, pulling away from him. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? I started it."

She tried to laugh. "Yes, you did."

"I always liked kissing you," he confessed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "You have nice lips." He touched her lips lightly. He blew out a breath and shook his head. "Fuck," he said.

"I liked kissing you, too," she said, honestly. "Well, I'd better get inside before people start looking for you." Her voice was light.

Charlie blew on the tip of his cigar, causing flying sparks. "Yeah, I guess."

Lavender ground out her cigarette and tossed the butt into an urn full of sand. She turned to walk back into the room, but Charlie grabbed her arm. He pulled her into him and kissed her again.

"Don't," she whispered as her lips crushed his.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: This chapter is a walk down memory lane. With a ****very**** few exceptions, the people who showed up for Charlie's party, are people I've written about in my other stories. So if you've never read any of my other stories, you might be a little lost. Sorry.--Rita**

Chapter 9

He tasted like tobacco and whiskey and she knew that he was too drunk to think rationally. She wanted him, but he wasn't hers any more. Not that he'd ever been "hers". They had had a fling several years ago; she was much more into the relationship than he was, obviously, but that was the story of Lavender's life.

She pushed him away and smiled at him. "Better get inside before we freeze to death," she said lightly.

Charlie licked his lips and nodded. "Yeah." He grinned cockily. "Thanks for the dance," he said giving her a salute. He wandered back inside while she took a few more minutes, lighting another cigarette, desperately trying to calm her nerves.

"There you are," Oliver said, barely able to stand on his feet. "I thought you'd abandoned your friends."

"Not me, mate," Charlie said, slapping the very unsteady Oliver Wood on the back.

"Look who's here," Oliver said, pointing to a group of people in the distance. Charlie went with him where he said hello to some more old school chums.

Charlie was beginning to believe that everyone he had ever known was at this party. Finally, he located his friend Jordan who was with the other members of the Reds and sat down next to him. The music was deafening and he leaned over real close, pulling Jordan's arm.

"What's up with the new chaser?" he asked.

"What do you mean?" Jordan asked, downing what must have been his tenth shot of his favorite drink, tequila with lime.

"Are you going to have her surgically removed from your side or are you going to wait until Joanna de-balls you?" Charlie nodded to Gilda who smiled at Charlie nervously. She had her hand on Jordan's arm.

"What are you talking about?" Jordan asked.

"Hey, it's none of my business except Joanna is my best friend. I don't really give a shit what you do, but if you hurt Joanna in any way, I'll take you out." He smiled drunkenly and slapped him on the face; not a punch or anything, but just hard enough to make a popping sound.

Jordan flinched. Gilda looked at Jordan, horrified that Charlie had hit him.

"What are you doing?" she asked Charlie.

Charlie looked at her, but Jordan shushed her before she could say anything else.

"Look, Charlie, it isn't what you think," Jordan said. "You know me better than anyone else."

But before Jordan could find out what he was thinking, someone ran into Charlie and dragged him away. The two Tex's had him by the arms and were dragging him to the other side of the club, next to the third bar.

"Son of a bitch, I can't believe you're here!" Charlie said, pounding them both on their backs. "This is great!"

"Travis came, too," Tex One said. "We couldn't believe you're really getting married, so we had to come and see for ourselves."

Charlie couldn't stop grinning. "Who's protecting Texas?" he asked. The Two Tex's, along with Travis Davis, were members of the Society of Fred, founded in honor of Charlie's brother. They were dedicated dark arts fighters and they had helped Charlie when an evil dark lord named Ares had threatened wizards and muggles in America.

"We left Texas in capable hands, my friend; Amanda (who was Travis's brother) and her new husband, Cormac McLaggen. She's big as a house; looks like twins."

"Did Curtis come with Travis?"

The Tex's nodded.

"What are you drinking?" Tex Two asked.

"Just about everything," Charlie admitted gleefully. "Come on, I'll buy you a drink," he said. Charlie walked up behind Travis and put him in a giant bear hug and gave him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. Travis screamed and turned to Charlie.

"You wouldn't be able to get away with that in Austin," Travis said, wagging his finger at Charlie. "How are you?"

"I'm good. I just can't believe you're here. I didn't think there was anything that would make you leave Texas."

"Except for my good friend's wedding, that nobody believed would happen. When do we get to meet the lovely lass?"

Charlie shrugged. "Tomorrow. This wedding's planned down to the last detail; all Gretchen and I have to do is show up, nod, kiss and we're married. I think there's a huge breakfast planned; hopefully it will be late because I'm planning to sleep until noon tomorrow."

Charlie got a bottle of tequila from the bar and poured everyone a drink, except Curtis, Travis's partner, who didn't drink.

"You guys seen Boo yet?"

Travis looked around curiously. "No. He's here? This place is huge, how are we supposed to find anyone?"

"He was over there with some of my old mates from Romania, talking dragons. It's not weird or anything since Amanda married that English bloke, is it? I know Ricardo and she were kind of hot for a while."

Travis laughed and shook his head. "Absolutely not weird at all." He waved his hand dismissively. "It's been over a year; they are good friends now. Besides, Ricardo is not the kind of man to settle down with anyone; too much like you."

"Stranger things have happened, my friend," Charlie said.

Travis realized what he'd said. "Oh, yes," he chuckled nervously. "I see what you mean. Sorry."

Charlie nodded and then grinned. "No problem."

"Someone told me Harry Potter was here. I wonder if he'd remember us?" Tex One asked.

"He asked about you the last time I saw him. I haven't even seen my brothers yet and I'm sure Harry's when them. Come on, let's go find him."

Charlie draped his arms over the two Tex's shoulders and they headed out through the impossibly crowded room, stopping for a drink with friends and some people Charlie didn't know, but who seemed to know him. He finally spotted his brothers George and Ron with another group of Hogwarts school mates.

"Glad to see you made it," Charlie said to his brothers, still holding on to Tex's One and Two. "These are my old friends from Austin; the two Tex's."

George found that extremely amusing. "Which one are you?" he asked.

"Tex," Tex Two said, grinning. He extended his hand and George shook it.

"Then you must be Tex," he said to the other one.

"Yessir," he said shaking his hand. "Please t' meet cha."

"You're Fred's twin, aren't you?" Tex Two asked. "I just wanted to let you know how much we admire you and your family for all they did to fight the evil ones. Tex, Travis, and I are working really hard to make sure that the dark magic doesn't take a hold in America."

"Harry told us what a wonderful job you're doing over there. If there's anything we can do to help, just ask, okay?"George shook both their hands again.

Charlie's brother, Ron, was watching one of several strippers. Charlie walked over to him and grabbed him around the neck, causing Ron to spill his drink.

"You'll never guess who's here," Charlie shouted in his ear.

"Who?" he asked.

"Lavender Brown," Charlie said. "She looks _fine._"

"Are you f-fing kidding me? Where?" Ron peered around.

"She was over there. She's one of the strippers,"

"No shit? I was about to ask what she was doing here. For Merlin's sake, don't tell Hermione, she'd kill me."

"Tell me about it," Charlie said. "Oops."

"What?" Ron said. "You look like you'd seen a ghost."

"Oh, shit. If Gretchen finds out what I did, I _will _be a ghost."


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Thanks, Katy!--Rita**

Chapter 10

"What did you do?" Ron asked with a laugh in his voice.

"I was talking to Lavender and we kind of, uh, well I just kissed her. She is one fine kisser, anyway. I, uh, nah, she won't find out. Whew. Thought I was in trouble there."

Ron nodded. "She _is_ a good kisser," he agreed. "Yeah, I think you're pretty safe. Nobody but friends was let in here and no one here would give you away. Your _whoever_ is very good, security is very tight."

"Yeah, Addison is a wonder. It's just I'm afraid Gretchen would get the wrong idea. She's a little on the jealous side. I don't know why." Charlie was babbling now.

Ron thought better of bringing up the fact that Charlie had cheated on every girlfriend he'd ever had and she probably had good reason to be suspicious. The brothers were still taking bets on whether the Christmas wedding would even take place. Knowing his brother as well as he did, Ron was sure that Charlie would manage to screw this up. Gretchen was the best thing that ever happened to Charlie, but he was still Charlie.

The two Tex's were talking to Harry and George; Ron wandered off to see if he could spot Lavender (_just to say hello, you know_), and Charlie finally saw his older brother Bill who was arguing with his other brother, Percy.

"There you are," Charlie said, draping his arm around Percy, who was flushed and looked like he was about to keel over. "Some party, yes?"

Bill held up his glass in a salute and nodded drunkenly. Percy looked like he was about to throw up, nodded and grinned.

"Oliver kind of went over the top with the entertainment, didn't he?" Bill said. "Is he paying for all this?"

Charlie grabbed a glass from a wandering tray of drinks and started drinking. "I guess. Glad to see he's doing well."

"Yeah. Well, here's to you, little brother, who would have ever thought you, Charlie Weasley, the ladies' man, would ever get married. Wow. Who would have believed it, right?"

Percy piped in, "There was always hope…"

Charlie burst out in raucous laughter and slapped Percy on the back, hard. "Yeah, _you_ got married, so anything's possible, yes?"

"Yeah, but you never had trouble finding a girlfriend, Percy here, now that's another story, he married the first girl who didn't think he was a total…" Bill found that extremely funny, but Percy just sniffed and rolled his eyes; he was used to his older brothers' abuse.

Percy wagged a drunken finger in Charlie's face, "You're a lucky man, Charlie. She's…" He was about to say something else, but suddenly he turned white, and threw up all over Bill. Charlie and Bill, for some reason, found that extremely funny, as well. Bill was laughing so hard, he almost didn't remember the '_tergio'_ spell to clean himself up.

"Oh, man, I've had way too much to drink. I'm going home to my beautiful wife and see if she's still talking to me," Bill said. "I promised her I wouldn't drink too much. Come on, Percy, I'll make sure you get home safe and sound." He thumped his brother hard on the top of the head.

"And you," he said to Charlie, thumping his chest, "behave! Don't screw this one up. She's too good for you. But then, we Weasley's have a way of marrying way above our station," he grinned.

"We certainly do," Charlie agreed. "Be careful. Don't kill Percy."

"Okay. No promises. We'll see you tomorrow," Bill said, holding a very pale Percy.

Once his brothers left, Charlie wandered around the hall; he was looking for Oliver to let him know he was leaving, when he noticed the singer on stage, singing some beautiful American Blues. Her voice was that of an angel, and he recognized her right away, Helena Corner, the singer he met in Virginia.

He thought about Gretchen then. Helena had cooked a traditional English meal for him and some other ex-pats and she'd make a play for him after the meal, and instead of falling into the usual pattern of never saying no when something's offered, he thought about Gretchen and went home alone that night. He'd never regretted his decision and that was one of the reasons he was sure Gretchen was the right one for him; his soul mate, if one could believe in that term.

He also thought about Joanna. She met Helena while they were in Virginia when the Reds played the Chesapeake Bay team. She would love to see again, so Charlie rang her up and told her to meet him at the party; he had a surprise for her.

"How's Brandon?" Charlie asked.

"He's asleep, finally. Justine yelled at me for not coming in the first place. Okay, sure why not? I can't miss my best friend's bachelor party. How's Jordan doing? Is he drunk on his ass yet?"

Charlie hesitated for a split second.

"What's going on?" she asked. "

"Nothing," he said.

"Charlie? Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying. I haven't seen much of Jordan; look, there're about a thousand people here, all of them claiming to be my best friend. Jeez, you didn't tell me I had to baby sit your husband."

"What's he doing, Charlie?"

"I, uh, well, he's with the team."

"All the team or just a certain chaser? That cock sucker promised me."

"I, uh," he stammered.

"Never mind, I'll be there before you can say 'Quidditch'. Meet me outside. I need to tell you something."

Charlie did not know what to do. Joanna was his best friend, but then so was Jordan. Was he supposed to tell him that Joanna was on the way or let him be surprised? Why should he tell him? After all, he said, it wasn't what he thought it was.

_Aw, fuck it_, Charlie thought as he made his way to the front door. He waited outside in the cold until he heard the familiar 'pop' and there stood Joanna. She had dressed hurriedly, only now throwing on her outer coat.

She ran to him and kissed him soundly, wrapping her arms around him in a death grip. "It's fucking cold here," she said. "God, I miss Texas."

"I'm glad you're here, Joanna, I want to show you something," he said pulling her inside.

She hesitated for a second, but he leaned in. "Trust me, he said.

He held her hand as he walked the quarter mile to the spot where Helena Corner was singing. Helena looked down and saw her and smiled and waved.

"Surprise," he said.

"How wonderful!" Joanna grinned and waved back. Charlie found them a table and they sat down to enjoy the music. "Did you know she'd be here?" she asked him.

Charlie shook his head. "Oliver arranged the whole party; I think he had some help from Addison. Isn't this amazing?"

Joanna nodded. She closed her eyes and listened to the soft, melancholy ballad and her body swayed with the rhythm. "Beautiful," she murmured.

Charlie watched her as she listened to Helena. He put his hand over hers. "What's going on?" he asked.

For the first time since he's known her, Joanna began to cry. "I'm losing Jordan," she said. "And I can't do anything to stop it."

Charlie held her. "No, that can't be. He loves you."

"But he loves _her _more. She is 'his heart', he told me. Charlie, I didn't want to spoil your wedding, but Jordan and I are divorcing when we get back home. I get the kids and he gets his freedom. Apparently I stifle his creativity and I'm smothering him."

Charlie was stunned. Joanna and Jordan were perfect for each other. Jordan loved her; Charlie knew that. He couldn't believe that Jordan would fall for anyone else.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me this, Joanna. I'm your best friend. How long has this been going on?

"Long enough. Charlie, Gilda is a fantastic chaser, I convinced Coach Popov that she was ready for the bigs. She was all grateful and shit, and then I found out that she'd always had a thing for Jordan and the sweet little witch from Salem turned into a conniving bitch. She went after him with both barrels blazing. He tried resisting but she had her boobs in his face all the time. _Poor little innocent me_, "Joanna said imitating Gilda's voice sarcastically.

"Honey, she must have put a spell on him. Jordan wouldn't do that. He's crazy about you and the kids."

"Well," she said. "He's accused me of all kinds of things; like Kayleigh's your baby and I only got pregnant with Brandon because I knew he wanted out of the marriage. You wouldn't recognize him." Charlie wiped a tear that was rolling down her cheek. "He's said some very mean things," she said.

"I can't believe you let him get away with that. Where's your fighting spirit, Joanna?"

She shrugged demurely. "I tried, but I don't have any fight left in me. He said I've let myself go. I'm not the woman he fell in love with."

"Let's go kill the bitch now," Charlie said. "I know a million places to hide the body."

Joanna finally laughed. "Yeah," she said, swiping another tear.

"I still think he's under a spell," Charlie said. "That is not Jordan."

"I wish he was under a spell, but he isn't."

"How do you know that? All of a sudden he's in love with someone else?" Charlie shook his head. "No, there's something else."

Joanna shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Shit, Joanna. This isn't you, either. You are the meanest son of a bitch I've ever met; I can't believe you're not fighting for him, or at least castrating him. I'll help you. I'm going to kill him myself."

Joanna put her hand on Charlie's cheek and smiled sadly. "You know I'm so glad you found Gretchen, but I wish it could have been me. I love you so much, Charlie, I always have. Too bad I love you like a bother." She kissed him.

"And I've always loved you," he whispered, deepening their kiss.

She pulled away from him, running her hand through his hair, her mouth at his ear, she whispered, "Make love to me, Charlie. This is our last chance."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Language warning.--Rita**

Chapter 11

Charlie pulled Joanna onto his lap; her legs straddling him; his hands pushing her closer into him. His response was automatic and powerful and she responded to him in kind. The music, the people, even the room disappeared; it was just the two of them, demanding and taking each other. It was hot and passionate and Charlie was about to throw her on the table and take her right there, but he pulled his mouth away from hers to look at her face. Her eyes were glazed over with passion, and when he pulled away, she blinked, trying to get her mind back into focus. She closed her eyes, willing her breathing to become normal again. She put her forehead on his and she sighed audibly.

"Come on," Charlie said, "let's get out of here." He helped her up and then he grabbed her hand, pulling her away with him. He continued to kiss her as he headed toward a private room. Suddenly Charlie felt an excruciating pain in his chest and too late he realized that he had been hit with a stinging mother of a hex.

"What the fuck?" he said loudly as he fell to the floor, pulling Joanna with him.

"Are you all right?" Joanna asked kneeling at his side.

"_Mother fucker _that stung," he said, still on his back. "I thought you said Jordan doesn't care about you."

She shrugged. "He doesn't. I don't understand…"

Joanna and Charlie looked up, not to find Jordan, whom they had expected to see, but a very pissed off Addison Miller. She stood over them her hair blowing around her face, her wand still in her hand. Charlie swore it was still smoking. Her face was a mask of fury. "_I. Have. Done. Everything. In. My. Power. To. Make. Sure. You. Have. The. Most. Splendid. Wedding. The Wizarding. World. Has. Ever. Seen._" She enunciated every word through clenched teeth. "And you, Charlie Weasley are NOT going to mess it up." She pointed her wand at him again.

Charlie started laughing and after a beat, so did Joanna. Joanna was laughing so hard that she fell on top of him. Addison's nostrils flared and before she could mutter another hex, Charlie put his hands up in surrender.

"Whoa, Addison," he said. "Shit, we would have probably come to our senses before we actually did anything." He jumped to his feet. "And I do love Gretchen too much to fuck out our relationship. I'll probably do that at some point after we're married, but right now…Thanks."

He helped Joanna to her feet. Joanna dusted herself off without looking at Addison. She wasn't so sure she would have stopped. She had come to her senses a while ago and needed to prove that she was still desirable. She knew Charlie didn't love her "that way", but still making love with him would fill a gap; she hadn't had sex in a very long time and she thought she might get a reaction out of Jordan as well.

"I still need to talk to you," she said quietly. "Somewhere private."

Charlie nodded and looked at Addison. "I'll be back," he said. "Don't worry."

Addison gave Charlie her winning smile and a cheery thumb up and walked away. He found a private room and escorted her inside. He was about to apologize but she held up her hand to stop him. "Don't, Charlie; don't say you're sorry, okay? It's my fault. I wanted to feel something and to be wanted even if it wasn't real. I gave my heart to Jordan and I never expected him to do this to me. I mean, how hard did I try to run him off when we first met?"

"That's why I still can't believe it. You're a great kisser, by the way," he said.

She grinned at him. "Don't bullshit the bullshitter," she replied, blushing just a little.

Charlie put his hand over his heart. "Sincerely. We could still make out." He wagged his eyebrows. "And we could go ahead and do what I'm going to tell everyone we did anyway."

Joanna hit him hard in the chest. "You asshole. That's a tired old joke. And that's why I love you. You make me laugh."

He wrapped her in a big bear hug and kissed the top of her head. He was thinking about kissing her again; all she had to do was tilt her head up just so…

He cleared his throat. "We better get out of here before somebody outs us."

Joanna wiped her nose on her sleeve and nodded. "Yeah, I don't want to get you in trouble again with Addison. She's scary."

He nodded in agreement and started to open the door for her. "You know I love you," he said quietly.

She nodded and gave him a cocky smile. "I know."

The noise from the hall was deafening as they stepped out of the room. She yelled, "I'm going to find Jordan, so we can look all happy and shit together."

"You want me to go with you?"

She shook her head. "No. You go play nice with your friends."

She started off, but he grabbed her arm. "I can still kill him for you. I do know the killing curse."

"That's so sweet, but no. We'll see you around okay?" She reached up and kissed him again. "And please don't let him know I told you anything."

Charlie snorted. "I'm a Quidditch player slash dragon wrangler, not an actor, but for you, my dearest," he kissed her hand, "anything."

They headed off in different directions; Charlie following a drink tray and Joanna set out to find Jordan. Almost immediately, Charlie was grabbed from behind and dragged toward one of several bars. He turned around and saw his old friend, Viktor Krum, who looked incredibly drunk, holding on to him.

"Old friend," Viktor bellowed. "Someone told me you were getting married. Couldn't believe it. I had to come to see for myself." He embraced him, pounding Charlie's back with his fist.

That joke was getting old. Yeah, Charlie Weasley permanent bachelor. "She's very special, I couldn't let her get away," he said honestly. "So, what have you been up to?"

"Did my uncle tell you that I was retiring from Quidditch?" Viktor's uncle was Dmitri Popov, the Reds' head coach.

"What?" said Charlie. "You're younger than I am."

"True, but I've been playing a lot longer, no?"

Charlie nodded. "So, what're you going to do?"

He grinned. "Maybe I come to America and coach for the USA Quidditch League." He shrugged. "Very hush-hush right now."

"That's fantastic! What team?"

Viktor put his finger to his lips and shook his head. "Secret," he said winking. "I'll tell you later."

"Well, let me buy you a drink to celebrate."

Charlie dragged Viktor to where the rest of the Quidditch players had congregated. Joanna and Jordan were sitting together; she looked uncomfortable, he looked bored. Gilda had moved further down the table and was pretending to talk to fellow chaser Jack Bledsoe. Jack was really too drunk to notice she kept her eyes glued on Jordan and Joanna and wasn't really listening to him at all.

Everyone at the table snapped to attention when they saw Viktor. Jordan jumped up and acted like a star-struck school boy. He blushed and gushed; Viktor was a personal hero of Jordan's. Viktor was used to people making fools of themselves around him. He found it as amusing as Charlie did.

Viktor was polite to Jordan, but brushed him off. He walked straight over to Joanna and held out his hand. She blushed a little and shook his hand. He placed his hand over hers and smiled. _What the fuck was going on? _Charlie wondered.

"I never got a chance to thank you," he said to her, kissing her hand.

"My pleasure," she said, still blushing.

Charlie looked at Joanna and gave her the "WTF" look. She laughed and shook her head.

"I'll tell you later," she mouthed and offered the chair next to her to Viktor.

Charlie sided a glance toward Jordan, and he looked like someone had just stolen his puppy. The evening was just getting interesting.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N; Oh, dear, Joanna's on a tear. Don't say I didn't warn you.--Rita**

Chapter 12

Charlie had never seen Viktor drunk, but he was teetering on sloshy. He was getting a little bit too friendly with Joanna, which she looked like she enjoyed, but the more Viktor flirted, the more sullen Jordan became. Charlie was extremely entertained and was considering egging him on.

Viktor's attention was exclusively on Joanna. There was something between them that caused Charlie to wonder about and finally penetrated Jordan's brain. Viktor did goofy things like pull out one of the flowers from the table and hand it to her. She blushed even redder and was clearly having a good time. He touched her hand and face whenever he got the chance. He closed his eyes when he went to whisper in her ear like he was enjoying a floral bouquet.

Jordan was beginning to do a slow burn. Here was his hero and he was hitting on his wife. He drank three shots of tequila quickly and set the last glass down hard. The sound was so loud that everyone at the table turned to stare at him.

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" he said angrily. "I don't want interrupt or anything, but I really wish if you're going to fuck my wife, you'd go somewhere private."

Viktor looked at Jordan. He had a surprised smile on his face. "I would never fuck your wife, Kingsley," he said, placing her hand in his. "I would make love to her as she deserved to be loved and cherished. I would treat her like goddess she is. Too bad she loves brute like you." He kissed her hand, leaving Joanna and the rest of the table stunned.

Viktor stumbled to his feet. "I apologize for speaking out of turn. Forgive me, I'm drunk." He kissed her hand again, gave Charlie a salute and walked away from the table, losing himself in the ocean of people.

Jordan was still angry and he turned on her with an accusatory stare. "You want to tell me what the fuck that was? Have you been screwing Viktor Krum behind my back?"

"Like you'd care, asshole," she threw back at him. "And no, I haven't been screwing anybody. I have no idea what that was about."

"Seems to me," Charlie said slowly, "that you have some competition, old man. Frankly, if Joanna didn't love the shit out of you, and I can't understand why she does, I might have tried to win her over myself."

"I always knew there was something going on between you two. I always knew you were a whore."

"You're pathetic," Joanna said.

Charlie looked at Joanna. He was starting to see some of the old Joanna he loved. The scrappy fighter who told it like it really was. He didn't like the hurt, whipped Joanna. _Go for it, _Charlie thought. _Let's see the real you; the ball buster. _

"Wait a minute, mother fucker," Joanna suddenly said loudly. "You can't have it both ways. You don't have the right to say anything to me or Charlie or anybody else for that matter." She stuck her finger hard into his chest. "You know, I don't know what kind of cunfunding spell your little bitch of a girlfriend put me under, but it ain't working any more. She ain't the love of your fucking life, mother fucker, _I am_. So don't you even think I'm going to give you up without a fight. You better come to your senses, you cock sucking son of a bitch, and you'd better do it quick or you really will find out what it's like to lose everything you hold dear.

"And you, bitch," she turned on Gilda who had started to stand up. "Let go of him, you cunt, or I will make your life a living hell. I'm going to make sure your fat ass is fired from the League, and you'll be playing in fucking Antarctica in the fucking penguin league. "

By this time, Gilda had pulled out her wand, but Joanna was faster and a lot more physical. Her wand was out and in Gilda's face before anyone could say, "_Engorgio," _Gilda's nose begin to swell up turn a bright shade of orange.

"Take that, bitch," she said triumphantly. She turned around toward Jordan. "Now, is there anything you want to say to me?"

Jordan looked at Gilda and then at Joanna. He reached out and took hold of her wand hand and pointed her wand away from him. She let him but her eyes never left his.

"So you do care," he said quietly.

"Fuck you for not knowing that," she answered. "And you know what? Fuck you. You're going to have to fight for me. Or you can get the hell out of my life right now. You decide because you know what? I'm going to be all right either way."

Charlie sat back, looking impressed. _Good girl,_ he thought, raising his glass to her. But she was just getting started. Jordan watched as Gilda ran from the room holding her ever growing nose, and did not make a move toward her. He looked down at the floor after she left and then looked at Joanna. Charlie thought he saw a spark in his eyes, something he hadn't seen in a while.

"Joanna, I…" he began, but she held up her hand.

"Not tonight, Jordan," she said. "We can talk tomorrow if you want to talk to me."

He lowered his head again and nodded.

"You have some thinking to do," she said. "And so do I. Don't come back tonight unless you really want to."

Joanna a sad smile and reached out and touched Jordan's face. She didn't linger, but drew her hand back and turned to Charlie. She hugged him and he whispered, "Welcome back," he said.

She drew a long breath and pulled herself to her full height. "Good night, ladies," she said saucily to the men at the table who had just witnessed the return of Joanna Morgan-Kingsley. Charlie knew from this moment on, no matter what the outcome, she was going to be just fine.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Around two that morning, Charlie was talked into a pick up Quidditch match. It was basically Hogwarts versus everybody else. His brothers Ron and George and friend Harry, along with Oliver, who kept saying how excited his was to be able to play with Charlie again, _"Just like old times, yes? You were the greatest team captain there ever was,"_ joined at center pitch to play one of the most hilarious, drunken and dangerous games anyone had ever seen.

Oliver played keeper for the Hogwarts team, who called themselves, appropriately 'Hoggies' Warts,' while Charlie gladly took a beater position, along with Harry. George, who unbelievably, was the only sober one there, tried his hand at seeker. Ron reluctantly played chaser. He kept saying he was not sure he was sober enough to throw the Quaffle through such a tiny opening.

Viktor declared himself an honorary Hogwarts' alumnus and took a chaser position. Ron was so excited to be playing with Viktor Krum that he fell off his broom three times. Of course, the fact that he was shit faced probably had a lot to do with it, too.

Members of the Reds and a couple of amateur players joined the "other team". Jason and Lee, normally beaters, played chasers, while Ricardo Sanchez, professional dragon wrangler, figured that he'd be a natural as keeper. The two Tex's volunteered for the beaters and Jack Bleadsoe became the team's seeker. The Tex's seemed to be extremely happy with the bludger bats and managed to knock the snitch across the room landing in a pint of ale. The snitch was easy to capture after that.

Jason and Lee tried to recruit some of the strippers for cheerleaders, but, being British, they couldn't seem to grasp the concept. Lee did a mean imitation of a cheerleader, so the strippers did a very risqué version of the cheer and made up more choreography as the game went along.

Most of the cheering drunken fans concentrated more on the cheer squad than the game. There were more fan injuries due to wayward knocked bludgers and good spirited fighting than the players. Charlie landed on the bar a couple of times, always managing to grab a shot or two of tequila before going back to the pitch.

George captured the snitch after it dizzily plowed into a wall and fell to the ground. Jack, who was watching the strippers' cheer, didn't see the snitch fall. Hogwarts won a million to zero! Well, that would have been the score, Oliver surmised, if they had actually been keeping score.

Oliver insisted on creating a champion's cup, which he kept for himself and the fans stayed on after the game to watch the post-game stripper show. Someone took a team picture and Addison went ballistic. _Again_. There were to be no photographs taken inside the hall. Charlie intervened before Addison hexed the poor man. He told her he wanted the picture as a reminder of the game. She would make sure it didn't make the cover of _Witches!!! _He wouldn't have minded so much having the picture published except for the fact that the cheerleaders played a very prominent role in the photo. Now that he was getting married, he had to clean up his bad boy image.

The party was still going on when Charlie found Oliver again and thanked him for the party, but said he had to go home. He said goodbye to all his friends and told them they should party as long as they wanted, but make sure they made it to the wedding day after tomorrow.

He looked for Lavender, but she had already left. It was better that way. It would have been awkward to apologize for his behavior. He doubted that she expected him to apologize, but he wanted her to know that he respected her and he wanted to remain friends. He doubted she would want that because he wasn't the first Weasley to disappoint her.

He didn't see Jordan either. He hoped that he and Joanna would work things out. His gold was on Joanna.

The air was cold and it was beginning to rain as he stepped outside. He had mostly sobered up but his head was still buzzing. He'd feel better when he got home and threw up.

The first thing he did when he apparated back to the Burrow was find Gretchen. Of course she was asleep, but he quietly entered her room and sat down on the chair next to the bed and watched her sleep. He gently reached over and pulled the hair away from her face and stared at her. She was so beautiful, she took his breath away.

She stirred and then opened her eyes, smiling at him.

"Hi," he whispered. "I didn't want to disturb you."

She touched his face. "That's all right. Did you have fun?"

"Yeah. We played Quidditch."

"Hmm," she nodded. She moved over and he got into bed with her.

He stroked her face and arms and kissed her lovingly. It was as if he was making sure she was really there and not an illusion. She responded to his touch by wrapping her arms around him and holding him close to her. Sighing contentedly, she burrowed her face in his chest.

Their lovemaking was leisurely and unhurried; each pleasuring the other. Afterward, he fell asleep in her arms. Right before he closed his eyes, he told her that he loved her.

It sounded like a jackhammer going off outside the door. Someone was pounding on it. "Gretchen! Gretchen! Open the door. Wake up!"

"Shit," Charlie said rubbing his head. "What the fuck is that racket? Merlin's beard, my head hurts."

Gretchen got up quickly and put on her nightgown. "Wait," she said in a stage whisper. "I'm coming." She opened the door and Xan pushed her way in.

"You won't believe what Charlie was up to last night," she said, holding on the latest copy of _Witches!!! _Magazine.

"Xan, it was a bachelor party, I imagine there was all kind of things going on. I don't need to see it. I trust Charlie."

"Are you sure you should?" she said, thrusting the magazine in her face. The cover was a grainy shot of Charlie outside the club on the balcony and he was kissing a nearly naked Lavender Brown. They looked extremely intimate.

"Oh dear," Gretchen said, looking at the photograph.

"It's not what it looks like," Charlie said suddenly, pulling the covering over him and taking the magazine from her shaking hands.

"Really?" she said. "It looks like you kissing a naked woman. Well, almost naked."

"Well, I guess it is what it looks like, but nothing happened. I swear." He tried to touch her face, but she slapped his had away. He let the magazine fall to the floor. Gretchen reached down and pick it up.

"Charlie, what is wrong with you? "

"I'm sorry. I was drunk. It was…I, uh, I'm sorry. It's really nothing."

She pushed the magazine into his chest. "It may be nothing to you, but it's something to me. The one thing I've begged you not to do is to humiliate me. This is not humiliating me?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated looking down at the floor.

"Get out," she said, pushing him to the door.

"No, let's talk about this."

"Not now, Charlie. Go." She grabbed up his clothes and threw them at him. He dropped the coverlet and began dressing. Xan turned her head quickly, blushing deep red. _Wow, _she mouthed.

Gretchen gave her a scorching look and then turned back on Charlie as he made his way out the door. She sat down heavily on her bed. "I knew this wasn't going to work out," she said, swiping a tear.

Xan tried to hug her, but she pushed her away. "Are you happy now?" she asked. "Dammit, would it kill anyone to let me be happy for fifteen minutes?"

"I'm sorry. I just thought it was something you would want to see."

"And why do you think I'd want to see my fiancé kissing a near naked woman on the cover of a magazine?"

"I'm sorry, Gretchen," she said. "I didn't think."

"Of course you didn't think. Now what am I supposed to do?"

Xan shook her head. "I don't know. "You're still going to marry him aren't you?"

Gretchen turned around to face her sister. "I don't know," she said honestly. "Charlie and I have a lot to talk about."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Charlie knew immediately when he walked into his mother's kitchen that he was in big trouble. Molly was waiting for him, her arms crossed at her chest. Addison was sitting silently at the table nursing a huge mug of coffee. Her look was unreadable, but Charlie thought she had been crying. _Oh shit, _thought Charlie_. Both of them?_

"Hey Mum," he said contritely. There was no point in pretending everyone hadn't seen the early morning _Witches!!!_ edition. Of course she'd seen it.

Molly's nose flared. She was about to light into him, but Charlie put up his hand. "I know, Mum. I'm sorry. I'm an idiot."

"Charlie," Addison interrupted. "This is my fault; I didn't do my job. There weren't supposed to be any reporters or photographers there."

Charlie grinned at Addison. Leave her to fall on her sword for him. "No, Addison, this is my fault, not yours. I should have never gone outside with Lavender and I sure as hell shouldn't have kissed her. I did it. Lavender's an old friend of mine and I was drunk; no excuse, I know. Everything went to my head. I didn't think. But I'd like to apologize to Gretchen and to Lavender. You get me an interview and I'll do it right away. I'm not going to deny anything. I may have fucked everything up with Gretchen; she's not talking to me right now."

Molly raised an eyebrow. "Do you blame her?"

Charlie shook his head. "No, I don't. I've put her through a lot. I don't deserve her."

"Too true," Molly agreed, huffing. "But she does love you."

"Yes, well…"

Addison stood up. "Interview fifteen minutes. Okay, great. Thanks. Bye-bye." She looked at Charlie. "I've arranged the interview. It's not with Linda, but it's the magazine. The reporter's coming here and I'll put him in the banquet room. Karl owes me a big favor."

"A man? Oh, good," Charlie said. He was thinking he didn't need to talk to another female as long as he lived.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and felt Molly's glare on the back of his head. It would probably make her feel better, he thought, if she'd just yell at him and get it over with. He was afraid she was going to pop something in her head. He took a deep breath and turned around. He looked at Molly expectantly. "Okay, go ahead."

His mum actually smiled, but it was a very sad smile. "Maybe this is for the best," she said. "You two have too much to work out and I don't believe you are ready for marriage." She sighed."I doubt if you'll ever be."

That stunned him and he didn't know what to say. Molly patted his face and smoothed his hair out of his eyes. She kissed his cheek.

"Run along and do your little interview."

"Is Ingrid up yet?" he asked. He couldn't understand why her brushing remarks had hurt him so much. Had his mother finally given up on him?

Molly shook her head. "I don't think so. I'll send her along when she gets up." She pulled a tight smile.

Addison took him to the room where the pre-wedding breakfast brunch was going to be held in less than three hours. Crews were setting up the tables and arranging the centerpieces and buffet line. Addison was planning a British-American breakfast; favorites from both countries. The reporter was seated at the head table sipping a cup of tea. He looked his element, surrounded by flowers and glitz.

Karl (just Karl, no last name) was the fashion reporter for _Witches!!! (UK)_. He followed Quidditch for the players and the gossip, but he had no real understanding of the game. Of course he'd heard of Charlie Weasley (_who hadn't? Local wizard makes good)_ and he was honored that Addison had granted the interview. Charlie didn't know that he had bugged her for days trying to get a one on one with the famous American Quidditch star.

Karl jumped up excitedly when Charlie and Addison entered the hall. His robes were lavender with silk and satin lapels. He wore a ridiculously garish hat with feathers and stars and Charlie had to bite his tongue to keep from laughing at him. Addison reminded him that Karl was one of the most important fashion reporters in Britain. _Great,_ thought Charlie, _fashion._

He spoke with an undistinguishable German accent that sometimes sounded Irish. Charlie had no idea where he was really from and figured his accent was as fake as the rest of him. Karl gushed and flattered and was constantly touching him.

"Karl," Charlie began. "I don't know if Addison told you why I agreed to this interview, but my point is to apologize to my fiancée for something stupid I did."

He nodded knowingly. "Yes, of course. I saw the unfortunate photograph. Who was the young lady?"

"An old friend of mine, Lavender Brown. She was at the party helping a friend out. We were talking about old times and I just kind of got carried away. There was a lot of alcohol involved. But it was never my intention to embarrass Gretchen or Lavender. I was an idiot."

Karl smiled at him and touched his arm. "I have heard that you have an alcohol problem and have been in rehab in America."

That wasn't a question. He waited for Karl to form a question, but it never came. He was supposed to acknowledge that once, as a part of a condition to return to Quidditch the owners made him go through an alcohol treatment program. It was a very long story, but he had pretended to be out of control in order to draw out a very evil wizard _named_ Ares. He, along with his friend Ricardo Sanchez had fought a war in the Mexican desert against Ares' men and a demon army. The_ last thing Charlie wanted to do was to bring that up. The Department of Magic and the Mexican Departamento y Regulación de Mágicamente Seres _had classified the war "Top Secret" and he was, for the most part, forbidden to talk about it.

"Might explain a lot, yes?" Charlie said finally. He grinned. "And there's also the fact that I rarely think with the right organ."

A giggle escaped from Karl's painted lips. "Naughty boy," he flirted. "So tell me all about American Quidditch."

Charlie looked at him oddly; he was having a problem trying to keep up with Karl's train of thought.

"Uh, it's dangerous."

"Have you ever been injured?" Karl leaned in, a look of concern across his face.

"Sure. I don't know anyone who hasn't been injured. You have to stay focused on the Golden Snitch, while at the same time, trying to avoid being hit by bludgers fighting seekers for the Snitch. Beaters make sure the keepers and the seekers get bludgeoned as much a possible."

"There aren't many witches in the USA League are there?"

"No, but then Quidditch has only gained popularity in the past 10 years of so in America."

"Thanks to you, no doubt."

"Uh, I don't think so."

"Come now, Charlie, don't be modest. The Flying American Red Dragons were in last place until you joined the team; now you simply can't be beat."

"Coach Popov recruited some of the best Quidditch players, including Jordan Kingsley and we work well as a team, thanks to Coach Popov," Charlie said.

"Hmm," Karl said. "Isn't the seeker position one that is usually filled by a woman?"

"What?" he said surprised. "No, I don't think so."

"It does take one's feminine side to be a good seeker, don't you agree?"

Charlie turned a slow red. "No, I don't agree. It's a very difficult position and yes a woman can play it, but it's not a girly position. I've have three concussions from being hit in the head by a bludger; I've also had my collar bone shattered, broken my arm twice fighting other seekers. I've been knocked into the stands and been knocked off my broom too many times to mention. It's a very demanding position."

The door to the banquet room pushed opened and Ingrid ran in. "Daddy, look, look what Uncle George gave me; it's you, Daddy. You're a dolly."

Ingrid held up the Charlie seeker doll proudly. "See, Daddy, you're a doll."

Charlie cleared his throat and took it away from Ingrid. "It's not a doll, Ingrid. It's an action figure."


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Karl giggled again, holding his hand over his mouth daintily. "Isn't she adorable?" he asked, still giggling. "This is your daughter?"

Ingrid nodded politely before Charlie could answer. She held out her hand politely and gave him a winning smile. "Pleased to meet you, ma'am," she said.

Karl didn't look at all offended at her gender error. That just seemed to make him blush and snicker even more. "I'm Karl," he said. "Your dad's agreed to talk to me. Isn't that wonderful?"

Ingrid turned her head. "Yes, ma'am, I guess. He talks to a lot of people."

"Your dad's a celebrity. Do you know what that means?"

Ingrid was growing bored by this time. She wanted to play with her daddy and she wanted this weird lady to go away. "Daddy, when can you play with me?" she asked jumping into her father's lap.

Charlie looked up at Karl. "We're done, right? I mean, all I wanted to do really was to apologize and I've done that. We have a breakfast thing going on soon."

"But your publicist promised me an interview," Karl pouted. "I'm almost finished, I promise. Just a few more questions."

Charlie sighed and nodded. He waited for Karl to continue.

"Do you know why you're having such a hard time with women?"

Charlie looked at his dubiously. He didn't want to talk about women because technically it was now only 'woman', not the plural sense.

His pause motivated to Karl to speak up. He placed his hand on Charlie's shoulder. "You're having such a hard time with commitment because, and you must know this, you're gay."

"I'm gay?" A smile threatened to break the blank expression on his face.

"See? You admit it," Karl gushed. "Just come out into the light." Karl made a sweeping gesture with his other hand, as if he was pointing the way. "You'd be amazed at the number of professional athletes who are."

"Well, honestly, Karl, I have never considered that. Maybe it's because I'm attracted to women?"

Karl shook his head. "No, Charlie. Admit it, you want me."

"Uh, no, sorry." Charlie reached down and picked up Ingrid who was just playing with the action figure of her daddy. "We're done here. "

Addison appeared out of nowhere, grinning. "Finished?" she asked.

Charlie rolled his eyes. "Yeah."

Karl was still smiling. "Absolutely. Thank you so much," he gushed. He reached out to shake Charlie's hand. He shook it politely, but had to pull his hand out of Karl's doubled handed caress.

"Uh, yeah."

Addison said, "I need to see your draft before it goes in. I want to make sure you got Charlie's apology right."

"Absolutely," Karl said. "I'll owl it right over."

He gathered his quill and note pad and hesitated. "May I cover the breakfast?"

"No," Charlie said over Addison. "This is a private party for friends and family."

Addison smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

Charlie turned his attention toward his daughter as she walked him around the room. She was fascinated by everything and pointed out the flowers and the other decorations. She was so happy. She chattered on about her granddad and that she wanted to sit with him and how grandmother was yelling at granddad about him. She was very mad.

Charlie smiled and let her babble on. She loved her doll and she couldn't wait to get more clothes for her doll. She loved the uniform and said it came with other clothes so she could play dress up.

He watched as the action figure flew around Ingrid's head on the exact replica of his broom. He lost interest in the whole game after the sixteenth circle, but watched his daughter squeal with delight every time it came near.

He didn't notice when the room started filling up with people who were invited to the breakfast. Suddenly the room seemed to be too noisy and crowded and he grabbed Ingrid's hand to leave. By that time Ingrid had spotted her granddaddy and took off leaving him to hold on to the doll. Charlie looked up and saw Gretchen coming toward him. She wasn't smiling but she wasn't glaring at him like her mother and Xan were.

"Hi," she said shyly. "Is this spot taken?"

He smiled at her, relieved that she was at least talking to him. "I saved it just for you. Gretchen, I'm so sorry."

Xan's nose flared when she heard him apologize. "Yes, you are," she said, her head snapping.

Charlie gave her a frustrated look, but Xan stared him down. "Gretchen," he said, "can we please go somewhere and talk?"

She nodded and waited for him to get up. "Can we go to your room?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Let's go outside. It isn't too cold and I'd love a walk."

Charlie held out his hand and she took it and together they walked outside the enormous tent. The ground was still frosted over as the frozen grass crunched underneath their feet. Charlie was waiting for Gretchen so begin, but she only sighed, watching her breath come out in puffs.

"Gretchen, I…" he begin, but she held stopped and faced him.

"Charlie," she said. "I know you love me and I know you're sorry and I know you will promise me it will never happen again." She looked at him. "Let's go to the next part; I love you, too. And I know you never meant to hurt me and I also know that you probably will do it again."

"That's not fair, I was drunk," he tried to explain.

"And what will be your excuse next time?" she asked.

"There won't be a next time," he promised.

"I don't believe you," she said. Those words stung him to the core. How could he prove how much he loved her?

He began to panic. He needed her serenity and strength. He knew she would forgive him this time, just like the other times. Didn't she understand that no one else mattered but her?

"What can I do? I'll do anything. You want me to give up Quidditch? I'll do it. I hate the celebrity thing. I don't need Quidditch; I need you."

"You'd give up Quidditch for me if I asked you to?" she asked.

He hesitated for a second, but his voice was strong. "Yes, I'll retire."

She cocked her head to the side and looked at him. There was a slight smile on her face. "Just like that."

He nodded. "Please, Gretchen, I can't lose you. You're everything to me. I don't think I could go on without you." He couldn't believe how desperate he sounded. "I love you."

"I know," she said. Her voice sounded kind, but he also heard the sadness in her voice. "Would you give up your dragons for me?"

He looked at her, surprised. "Dragons? You mean my work at the Preserve?"

She nodded. "Yes."

He swallowed hard. "Uh," he said.

For the first time, Gretchen laughed. She patted his arm. "Don't worry; I'm not that much of a bitch. I know if you gave up your dragons you would cease to breath."

His face reddened. "I would, you know, give it up."

"Don't lie to me, Charlie. I would never ask you to give up anything, including Quidditch."

"Then what do you want?"

Gretchen sighed heavily and looked down at the ground. "I want to go home."

"What? What do you mean?"

She looked at him and smiled again. "I want to go home, Charlie. To Texas."

"After we're married, right?" His voice filled with panic.

She shook her head. "No."

"You are going to marry me, right?" He tried to kiss her, but she turned away.

"No," she said simply. "I can't marry you."

"You love me."

She sighed again. "Yes." He looked at her face. It was calm and serene and there were no threat of tears. "But I love me more." She started to pull off her engagement ring, but he put his hand up to stop her.

He held on to her hand. "Please don't. It's your ring. It's yours. Besides, I owe you that much."

He didn't know what to do. She was going to change her mind. She loved him and she was going to marry him. He just had to figure out how to convince her.


	16. Chapter 16

___**A/N: Hardly Christmas anymore, is it? Sorry about that, but I've been on death's door for a while and my muses were in mourning, apparently. Rita**_

Chapter 16

"I guess we'd better get inside," Charlie said. He held out his hand to her and she slid her hand into his.

She nodded. "Do you want to tell everyone at the breakfast?"

"We don't have to say anything right now; I'd hate to spoil everyone's fun, if that's all right. We should tell the parents first."

"Okay," she said quietly. "After."

They were both quiet on the way back into the hall. Charlie was desperately trying to think of something to say. Finally, he turned to her. "You're right. I should have known this wasn't going to work. I've been very selfish and I've only been thinking about myself. But you've made me think about something I haven't thought about in a long time."

She looked at him expectantly. "What?"

"Retiring from Quidditch; I don't need this. It's not fun anymore. I need to spend more time with Ingrid. Technically I don't need to work, but I don't think I could ever give up magical creatures. I'd have to stay away from research and just wrangle because I wouldn't want to spend too much time away from her." He nodded, confirming the idea. He smiled at her.

"I'd like to have spent more time with you, too. Do you think that maybe later you could trust me again? Not right now because I know I really fucked this up, but if I could prove that I changed?"

She didn't answer right away.

"You're right," he said. "I'm sorry. It's really better this way."

Gretchen stopped in her tracks and turned toward him. "That's not what I meant. I'm sorry this isn't going to work because I love you. I will never feel this way again, I'm sure." She grinned to herself. "I'll probably run off and become the crazy cat lady, always dreaming about what could have been." Fat tears rolled down her checks. "Why did you have to humiliate me, Charlie? I could have been blissfully happy not knowing. That's what I hate about your being a celebrity. Everyone's going to think I'm an idiot for taking you back after what you did, but…"

"Fuck what everyone else thinks, Gretchen." He took her hand. "I promise that I will spend the rest of my life making this up to you. And no matter what you might think or what those magazines say, I'd never cheat on you. Drunk or not."

"But kissing other women is cheating, Charlie, whether you take it to the next level or not. Can't you see that?"

Charlie was thinking, 'not really,' but he knew better than to open his mouth, so he looked contrite and continued to walk back to the banquet room without saying another word.

The room was starting to fill with guests. Molly and Arthur were sitting at the head table; the Wallace's sat on the opposite side, looking especially tight lipped and peeved. Xan sat next to her boyfriend, Jack Bledsoe, one of the Reds' chasers. Joanna, as best man, was at the head table as well. She was playing with her daughter, Kayleigh while Jordan tried desperately to distract their son, Brandon. Jordan kept looking at Joanna, but she ignored him. Charlie saw a bit of a smug look on her face until their eyes met and Joanna turned a bright red, but then she grinned at him and shook her head.

He knew she had seen the cover of the magazine too. At least no one had captured their snog- fest, he thought, as he turned a bright red, too. Luckily Gretchen was too busy ignoring him. He sided up next to Joanna and kissed her on the cheek this time. Kayleigh's hair turned bright orange when she saw him and she flung her arms around his neck, giving him a sloppy wet kiss.

"Hey beautiful," he said to Kayleigh. "How're you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she said. "But Brandon got sick yesterday and spent the whole day puking. It was gross."

"Yuck. I think Ingrid needs rescuing," he said. "Why don't you bring her over here?"

Kayleigh jumped and ran to her friend who was sitting on her grandfather's lap while Molly adjusted the ribbons in her hair. She looked like she was being tortured. Her eyes lit up when she saw Kayleigh and she jumped down and hugged her friend.

Charlie watched the two girls run off toward the back. He turned to Joanna who was looking at him.

"So, what happened?" she asked.

"She called off the wedding," Charlie said, glancing at Gretchen who had gone to speak with her family.

"No shit?"

He nodded, "What about you and Jordan?"

Joanna smiled. "We talked." She shrugged.

Charlie poured himself a cup of coffee. He knew he didn't have to say anything to her about the night before. He didn't have to apologize or say he regretted anything. Joanna understood him better than anyone else.

"What's it going to take to talk her back into the wedding?" Joanna asked.

"Me on my death bed, I guess. I've never seen her so pissed," he said. "She agreed to have the breakfast together, but after that… I really fucked it up this time."

"No shit," Joanna agreed. "She loves you, though."

Charlie sighed. "Yes, I know, but I humiliated her for the last time. I even offered to retire from Quidditch, but I don't think it impressed her. So it looks like everyone's going to be mad at me for hurting her. I am a son of a bitch."

"That's true, you are. But no one expected you would marry her anyway." Charlie looked at her and she nodded.

"That sucks, Joanna. Of course I want to marry her. We've been together for a long time. I need to settle down."

"Don't yell at me, I'm just telling you what I've heard," Joanna said.

He was about to say something, but Gretchen walked over and sat down next to him. She smiled at Joanna.

"I'm hungry," she said, taking his hand in hers.

Joanna and Charlie looked at her. Charlie brought her hand up and kissed it gently. She blushed a little, as she always did, and smiled.

"I think we're supposed to go first," she said. "Let's not keep anyone waiting. Where's Ingrid?"

"She off playing with Kayleigh," he said. "I'm sure my mum already fed her." He got up and held Gretchen's chair as she stood up. He escorted her to the buffet line and everyone started falling in behind them.

Gretchen leaned in and whispered, "All these people are making me nervous. I'm afraid I'm going to spill my plate all over me."

Charlie grinned. "We've got a room full of wizards; no one is going to let that happen, especially me."

"My hero," she said lightly making Charlie's heart race.

He wondered if she was just putting on an act with him, or maybe she wasn't mad at him anymore. She didn't have a deceitful bone in her body, but they had agreed not to ruin the breakfast by announcing that the wedding was off. He had no idea what she was thinking, but he decided he wasn't going to piss her off even more by doing or saying something stupid.

They greeted the guests warmly as they made it back to the head table. Gretchen was smiling and cordial. For every 'congratulations' she responded warmly.

After the breakfast, it seemed that everyone who was there had something to say to the happy couple. Oliver Wood stood up first and he looked like he'd been up all night partying. He slurred some best wishes and offered a toast with the champagne cocktail. He stopped midway several times, apparently forgetting his toast, but he managed to bring up Quidditch and the best Hogwarts Quidditch captain at least five times. By the time he sat down, no one wanted to hear about his career and how Charlie Weasley had made him the wizard he was today again. Gretchen smiled tolerantly through it all, applauding appropriately when he finally sat down.

Too many of Charlie's old friends stood up and voiced their doubts that Charlie would ever marry. Each one had an embarrassing story of his wild days. The smile Gretchen had planted on her face started to dim a little after the fifth or sixth well-meaning story. Charlie was beginning to be very uncomfortable and wished the damn thing was over. Molly and the Wallace's gave him stony looks. He was about ready to cut everyone off when Joanna stood up.

"Everything those guys said is true," she began. "He was wild. Nobody thought he'd ever be harnessed." Charlie gave her pleading look and rolled his eyes. She grinned. "And then he met you, Gretchen.

"Everything I knew about my best friend changed the minute you walked, rather reluctantly, I may add, into his life. You can see it in his eyes and in that dumb grin of his. Is he still an idiot? Oh yes, but he loves you with every breath in him. I am quite certain, Gretchen, that he will do everything in his power to make you happy. He doesn't speak of the future as "I"; rather he speaks of the futures as "we".

"Will he make you mad? Definitely. Will he piss you off?" She nodded to her. "Oh yes. Will he love you and strive to make you happy until the day he dies? Absolutely, without question."

There were some sniffles and "awws" around the room. Molly wiped a tear from her eyes. Joanna held up her glass in a toast. "To Charlie and Gretchen," she said. Everyone raised their glasses. "You're too good from him, Gretchen, but the son of a bitch loves you."


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Charlie turned to look at Gretchen and he saw the tears in her eyes. She brushed them away and smiled at him. She took his hand and released it. She picked up her champagne glass and took a sip.

"Thank you, Joanna," she said, standing up, "for that beautiful toast." She cleared her throat and her voice became stronger. "Charlie and I have been talking, and…"

"Wait," he said, interrupting, "I thought we were going to tell everyone later."

She looked at him and smiled again. "As I was saying, Charlie and I have been talking and we're both pretty upset about the magazine cover I'm sure you all saw this morning." There were a lot of head nodding among the group and some embarrassed coughs. "Well, I'm not going to lie to you; I was very upset as you probably can imagine."

Xan's head snapped, "Uh huh," she said. Gretchen laughed.

"Well, the thing is, it _was_ a bachelor party, and Charlie had a lot to drink, and all of you who know him know he's not the clearest thinker when he's been drinking. The young lady was an old friend of his and well, if you won't hold that against him, neither will I." Charlie let out the breath he felt he'd been holding forever.

"But," Gretchen turned to him, "I swear by all things magical, if you ever do that to me again, Charlie Weasley, you won't ever have to worry about cheating on me because you won't have anything left to cheat with."

Charlie's face turned very red. "Yes, ma'am." He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm so sorry, Gretchen," he whispered in her ear. "I promise I'll never hurt you again."

"I believe you," she whispered and kissed him. The hall erupted in wild applause as they kissed.

The only ones not apparently happy with the news were the Wallace's. Tilly gave Charlie a disgusted look and if one could ignite a killing curse with a look, Roxie could have struck him dead. Dan looked a little conflicted; he didn't want his oldest daughter publicly humiliated, but the idea of having a famous Quidditch player in the family delighted him to no end.

Charlie looked at his family and Arthur was smiling. Molly's eyes were brimming with tears. She wasn't smiling but he thought she must be pleased.

Charlie addressed the crowd. "Thank you all for coming and it looks like we'll see you all tomorrow after all. Happy Christmas!"

As everyone started pouring out of the hall, Joanna ran up and threw her arms around both of them. "I'm so happy," she said. She was crying, too.

"It was your toast that did it," Gretchen admitted. "Thank you. You reminded me of something I'd forgotten. I appreciate that."

"I thought you'd decided to dump this dickhead," a voice from behind them said loudly. It was Roxie. "He humiliated you in public again and you just go running back to him? Where is your dignity?"

"Roxie," Gretchen began, "you just don't understand."

"Oh, I understand. You must love abuse because this isn't the first time he's done this to you and it sure as hell won't be the last," she ranted. "If you think I'm going to stand up next to you while you make the biggest mistake of your life, you're crazier than you look."

"I'm sorry you feel that way," Gretchen said quietly.

Xan watched the exchange between her sisters and wasn't exactly sure how she felt. She was pissed off at Charlie and hated to see her sister get upset, but on the other hand, she knew that Gretchen would never love anyone else like she loved Charlie. They were meant to be together.

"Frankly, Roxie," Xan said, standing up, "I'm thrilled you aren't going to be in the wedding. You'd embarrass them more with your witch-Goth look and that hideous ugly black thing you call a dress. The whole thing suddenly got so better looking."

"Xan!" Gretchen said, trying to hide a hint of a smile. "Roxie, she doesn't mean that. I would love for you to be part of my wedding."

"At least I'm being true to myself," Roxie argued.

"Please," Xan said, rolling her eyes. "Your tortured soul bit is getting old."

The last thing Charlie wanted to do was to get between three sisters. He looked for a chance to escape but he really didn't want to leave Gretchen alone either. He wasn't about to say anything and screw things up any further. _Oh great, _thought Charlie, _here comes Tilly._

"Xan," Tilly said, "leave your sister alone."

Gretchen turned to Charlie. "Now would be a very good time for you to leave," she said. "I know you don't want to get in the middle of this."

"No, honey; I'm here for you. I'm not going anywhere."

Gretchen sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Charlie looked at the swarm of women descending upon him. "Well maybe, I should talk to Mum…"

"I think your mother's on her way over here."

"Oh great. Then I probably should talk to Addison. I'm sure there are some last minute details to go over."

But it was too late. Molly, along with Ginny, who had an uncanny way of looking like Molly when she was irritated by something, came up quickly and joined the other witches. Molly was probably still mad at Charlie, but if the Wallace women were going to pounce on him, she was not about to let that happen.

Tilly started to get into Molly's face, which to say the least was a very dumb thing to do. She started to say something, but Gretchen pulled her aside.

"Don't," she said holding on to her arm. "Please don't."

Tilly threw Gretchen's hand off her. "I thought you were going to call off the wedding," she said. "I'm trying to protect you, you know."

"I don't need protecting, Mom; I know exactly what I'm doing."

"Do you? I don't think so."

It was a good thing that the hall had clear out because it looked like it was about to come to bloody blows. Molly and Ginny started off trying to say something encouraging but then Tilly made a fatal mistake of challenging Molly's mothering skills.

"Oh no you didn't," Ginny said, her face in Tilly's. "Look, you can say what you want about my prat of a brother, but you will not disrespect my mum."

"That was uncalled for," Charlie said to Tilly. "Ginny's right; say what you will about me because I deserve it; but leave my mum out of it. You don't know my family."

Tilly was taken aback slightly at Charlie's tone. She was so wound up in her own anger that she really wasn't thinking about what she was saying. She turned a deep red. "You're right, I'm sorry, Molly. I don't know what came over me," she said demurely as he watched Molly loosen the grip on her wand.

Clearly, she was still upset, but she also realized that the English witches were more practiced in spells and incantations than the Americans. They used magic without thinking and it was as natural as breathing. Tilly never encouraged her daughters to become proficient and relied on muggle conveniences.

"Why don't we discuss this at the Burrow?" Charlie suggested. "We have a lot of things we need to settle before the big day, yes?" He took his mother's arm on one side and Gretchen on the other and hurried them out of the hall. Tilly, Roxie, Ginny, and Xan followed behind. Roxie was still wearing a soured look on her face, but at least none of them were screaming at each other.

After a few minutes, everyone was seated around the kitchen table, and Molly, always the perfect hostess, was serving them tea. She looked relaxed, but Charlie could tell the smile had been plastered on her face. Ginny hadn't completely acquired her mother's sense of priority, so she stood off to the side, eyeing the Americans with disdain. She was ready to do whatever battle necessary. The room was crackling with electricity; everyone was on edge, but each trying desperately not to piss each other off.

Charlie blew out a labored breath. "I can't tell you how happy I am that Gretchen changed her mind about me. We've talked about this and she understands how I feel and how I'm committed never to hurting her again. I think that her decision is the right one and I'm going to spend the rest of my life making her happy.

"Roxie, I'm sorry you don't want to be a part of the wedding, but I respect your wishes. I hope that you will change your mind, but I'm not going to try to talk you into something you're set against."

Roxie reddened and she ducked her head. She was going through a difficult time; hormones erupting, she was no longer the center of her parents' universe and she was resentful and not just a little bit jealous. Gretchen knew she would be fine as soon as the circus of a wedding was over.

Gretchen actually believed she'd get more grief and drama out of Xan, but she'd proven to be a good friend as well as a supportive sister. Xan understood better than anyone else Gretchen's heart. Gretchen smiled at Xan who smiled back. Everything was going to be just fine.

Xan raised her hand, requesting permission to speak. Charlie tried to hide his smile and he looked at her expectantly. "Yes, Xan?" he said. The others were smiling too and finally the tension in the room was settling.

"All I wanted to say is that I'm glad you changed your mind about canceling the wedding."

The others waited for her to say something else.

"No, that was it." She shrugged and Gretchen burst out laughing and hugged her sister.

"Thanks, sweetie," she said.

"We've got a lot of stuff to do, you know. You have to finish the final, final fitting, and Addison has some project she needs help with for the favors. We're going to be busy the rest of the day."

The women nodded; there was a hell of a lot of things that needed to be done.

"So, we're good?" Charlie asked, anxious to spend some make up time with Gretchen.

The women looked around at each other and nodded. The wedding was back and there was a lot to do.

Addison walked through the kitchen door. She was carrying a white garment bag and her face was as white as the bag. "Gretchen," she said, her voice trembling a little. "Did you unpack your dress?"

Gretchen smiled and shook her head. "No, I left it with you, remember?"

"Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yes, you told me you were going to have it pressed. What's the matter?"

"It's not in the bag, Gretchen. Your dress has disappeared."


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

There was a stunned silence and then the screaming began.

"This isn't funny, Addison," Gretchen said. "Where's my dress?"

Addison was in tears. "I don't know, I don't know. This bag hasn't left my sight since yesterday."

Charlie didn't really comprehend the importance of what had just occurred. "What's the big deal? Just get another dress," he said ignorantly.

"What?!" Seven loud and very shrill voices replied hysterically. All of them seem to be going off at once.

"Are you insane?"

"The day before Christmas; the day before the wedding?"

"Do you have any idea how much this dress cost?"

"Do you have any idea how long it took to find that dress?"

Gretchen was crying. "No, this was my wedding dress. It was perfect. It was me. This is the dress I'm suppose to start my whole life with you. I can't get just get another dress."

"Uh, sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'm sure it'll turn up," Charlie said, hopefully reassuringly.

Large tears were streaming down Addison's face. This was the first time Charlie had ever seen her being anything than manically enthusiastic. He wanted to comfort her, but he also thought it would be a bad idea to choose sides against Gretchen.

"Maybe one of your assistants…"

"No! That wouldn't happen," she interrupted. "I have total control over every aspect of the wedding. I have everything under control."

"Except the location of my sister's dress," Xan said sarcastically.

She burst into tears again. Unfortunately Gretchen was no help. Never mind that less than four hours ago, she had called off the wedding; the point now was she was getting married in a little over 24 hours and her one of a kind custom made wedding dress was gone.

"Who would steal your wedding dress?" Molly asked.

"Oh, I can think of at least one person," Gretchen said.

Xan looked at her. "Oh my God, that bitch of a reporter, Linda Martinez!" she said, slamming her fist on the table.

Gretchen nodded silently. She raised her eyebrows in a knowing way.

"I don't think she'd do that," Charlie said, shaking his head. "Her beef is with me, not you."

"Have you not read the shit she writes about Gretchen?" Xan asked. "She hates her."

"I'm sure it's nothing personal," Charlie said.

"_Nothing personal_?" Roxie and Tilly said together. "Are you crazy?"

Charlie looked at the angry faces in front of him. Even his mother was nodding.

"She is terribly critical, dear," Molly said.

"That's her job," Charlie started.

"Are you defending your former girlfriend over me?" Gretchen asked.

_Oh, shit,_ thought Charlie. _Keep your mouth shut. _"Uh, no, of course not," he said. "It's just that Linda," Gretchen flashed him a dirty look when he used her first name, "uh, that's her job to write gossip stuff."

Ginny patted his brother on his arm. "It's best to stop talking right now. You're not going to win this one."

_Good idea, _he thought, nodding. "Uh, has anyone seen Ingrid?"

"You're not leaving me now. What are you going to do to get my dress back?"

"Me? That's Addison's job."

Gretchen folded her arms across her chest. "Oh no, it's not. You're great pals with Ms. Martinez, you talk to her."

"What if it's not her?"

"Charlie, please," Gretchen said, rolling her eyes. "She was there when Addison and I were talking about the dress. Oh, she has it all right. So, do you want to marry me tomorrow or not?"

Charlie nodded. "Of course I do."

"Then get my dress back, in one piece, no damages. Pristine condition."

"Oh, fuck me," he said under his breath. He did not want to confront Linda; that was probably the last thing he wanted to do.

"Are you going to let that bitch sabotage your wedding?" Xan asked.

Jeez, these women will turn on you in a heartbeat, Charlie was thinking. He shook his head.

"I'll help you," said Addison. "I know where I can find her."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she made herself invisible; you are probably the last person she wants to see," Ginny said thoughtfully.

Although Charlie was not one hundred percent convinced that Linda had taken the wedding gown, he thought it better if he didn't say anything. Gretchen was in no mood to listen to anything rational at the moment.

He took a deep breath. "Okay, Addison, let's get going."

"Do you want me to come, too?" Ginny asked.

"Sure," he said in a resigned tone, "The more the merrier I always say."

Gretchen still had a scowl on her face that echoed the same look on her mother's and sister's faces. The only one who wasn't scowling was Roxie; she had a look that was beyond description. Molly's expression was, as it almost always was, serene. She had more confidence in Charlie's persuasive charms than the rest of them, no doubt.

"I have to check in with my staff," Addison said. "I'll have her current location within minutes, uh seconds."

Charlie nodded and Ginny pursed her lips thoughtfully. She wasn't quite sure what to expect, but she did have her brother's back. The Americans were beginning to get on her last nerve and she wanted to get away from them the sooner the better.

Ginny did not share her brother's enthusiasm for America and Americans. The one time she went to Texas, she was convinced she was going to melt from the heat. It wasn't that she didn't like Gretchen and her family, because she did, she just didn't like the way her brother had become so p-whipped. He was not the Charlie Weasley she remembered; free spirited and a love 'em and leave 'em attitude. She realized him becoming a father may have had something to do with his change in attitude or maybe Gretchen had confunded him.

As they waited for Addison to return, Ginny decided to talk to him about Gretchen and maybe find out where his head was. He didn't look like he was very happy having to talk to Linda; in fact he didn't too happy about anything at the moment.

"You okay?" she asked.

He hesitated for a second and then nodded. "Yeah."

"Really? Because you don't look okay," she said needling him a bit.

"Rock solid perfect," he answered, still not looking at her.

"Oh, because if there's something you want to tell me, well, I'm here for you."

He did look at her then. "I don't have anything to tell you. I'm trying to figure out what to say to Linda."

"You don't think she took it, do you?"

He shook his head. "No," he said simply.

"She's always had the hots for you. You don't think she's up for a little pay back?"

"It would seem logical," he admitted. "But honestly, I don't see Linda taking anything personally. She can be a bitch, but she's a bitch to everyone, not just me."

"But she has been especially cruel to Gretchen; you have to admit that."

He thought about that for a moment and nodded. "I guess. I don't read the things she writes and I'm always surprised when Gretchen does; of course her sisters make a point of ensuring she reads them. I don't know, maybe she is a wee bit jealous. We did have a very brief affair, and I do like her. She helped me when I was in Mexico during the war with Ares. I'm grateful for that; she risked her life for me."

Ginny shook her head. "But she's not Diane Gentry."

Charlie's face reddened. "No," he said quietly. "I know. "

Ginny watched her brother silently as they waited for Addison to return. She sighed and rubbed his back. "She wasn't the one who died, Charlie. She may have helped you, but she isn't the one you owe your loyalty to. You need to walk away from your past and move on. You're the one who wants to get married. You need to shed all the crap of your past. I know she reminds you of Diane, but she isn't. It's not her."

Charlie turned to Ginny. "I know that," he snapped. "But sometimes…" He looked away from her and shook his head.

**A/N: Obviously I'm dragging in just about every OC I've ever created for this story. Diane Gentry appeared in two previous stories: "Charlie's Dilemma" and "Charlie's War". She was killed by a very dark wizard when she was used as "bait" to draw Charlie into a battle. Charlie's always felt guilty about her dying—I think it has something to do with his inability to save his brother, Fred. Don't mean to confuse.--Rita**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Addison popped back in mere seconds as promised. She still wasn't fully recovered, but at least a smile was back on her face.

"Linda's still in town. She and a few other reporters are staying at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley."

"Well, then," Charlie said, rubbing his hands together nervously. "We'd better get over there."

"Charlie," Addison said. "I can do this."

"I know you can. I trust you, but if I expect to get lucky tomorrow night, I'll going to have to be the one who gets the damn dress back." He grinned at her.

Ginny still wasn't happy because she didn't understand what Charlie saw in Gretchen. Oh, she was nice enough, but Charlie had had a lot of other women. She could count on one hand the number of serious relationships her brother had. She imagined his true love was probably the mother of his child, Jessica; the muggle who stole his heart. But she was dead and it was time for him to settle down and grow up.

"Shall we, ladies?" Charlie said taking both of the women's arms. They disapparated with a loud pop and suddenly found themselves on the street outside the Leaky Cauldron. They quickly ducked inside and went into the dining room. There were several regulars at the bar and a few that looked liked they'd never been inside a traditional wizard bar. Americans, no doubt.

Linda was not in the bar, but Charlie recognized the photographer sitting at the bar, trying to pick up one of the "regulars." His eyes got real big when he saw Charlie and Addison; he didn't recognized Ginny, and started to stand up. Charlie walked over to him quickly placed his hand on the man's shoulder, holding him down.

"Where is she?" he asked.

The poor man didn't even bother to feign innocence. "In her room," he said, nervously.

Charlie turned to Addison and Ginny. "Stay here. If I'm not back in twenty minutes, come and get me," he said.

"Is she expecting you?" the innkeeper asked when Charlie approached him looking for Linda Martinez's room number. He recognized Charlie immediately.

"Yes," Charlie said politely. "Of course. We're old friends." Charlie smiled his winning smile.

The innkeeper was more than happy to oblige a famous Quidditch player's request, even if he _was_ an American who had stolen the World Quidditch Cup. "Of course, sir, Miss Martinez is in room 217, all the way down the hall on the left."

Charlie thanked him and bounded up the stairs taking two at a time. The last person he wanted to face was Linda Martinez, but he knew he would disappoint Gretchen if he didn't at least try. He knocked on the door, waiting patiently for Linda to open it.

"Come in," she said through the door. "Did you forget how to open a door?"

Charlie stepped inside. Linda was standing by the bed in her underwear. She was obviously in the middle of getting dressed when he walked in.

"Oh," she said, surprised. She instinctively held her dress in front of her, but then dropped it on the floor. "Hello, Charlie."

Charlie sighed and rolled his eyes. "Put your clothes on, Linda. This isn't that kind of visit."

She laughed. "Are you sure?" She walked seductively toward him. He sidestepped her advance.

"What? No kiss?" she asked.

"No. You look good," he said before he could stop himself.

She laughed again, this time with a bit more confidence. "Thanks," she said. "I've been working out."

"Dress, please?" he said politely, pointing to the garment on the floor.

She bent down slowly and picked up the dress and slipped it over her head. "Happy now?"

She sat down on the bed. She appeared a lot cooler than she was. He did that to her; made her heart race. He'd always had that effect on her but she hid it well, she thought.

"What do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" she asked casually. "Do I get another exclusive interview on your upcoming nuptials?"

"Linda, can you be honest with me?" he asked. She looked at his expectedly. "Did you take Gretchen's dress?" He looked almost embarrassed.

"The lovely bride's wedding gown has gone missing?" she asked. "Oh dear. There's no chance of finding a plus size dress this close to the big day, is there?"

"Linda," Charlie warned. "Don't."

Linda sighed. "Oh all right. No, I didn't take the dress," she said. "I'm hurt that you thought I would do such a thing."

"Do you know who might have taken it?" he asked, quickly getting tired of her games.

She turned her head, thinking. "Hmm, well, let me think. The circus was looking for a tent…"

He was genuinely angry this time. "Stop it. What is wrong with you?" He took two steps and leapt at her, pinning her arms at her side. "Stop it. She's never done anything to you, Linda. I want you to leave her alone. Get it through your thick skull that I am in love with her and we're going to be married. I'm sorry if you don't like the idea, but it is going to happen. Look, I'm sorry things didn't work out between the two of us…"

"Oh, please, Charlie," she said, rolling her eyes at him. Inside she was shaking and she could barely draw a breath with him so close to her. He had that effect on her and she hated him for it. "You think this is because I'm in love with you? Please, what an ego you have. We had a good time and that was all. I'm not jealous of Gretchen."

"Then leave her alone. Leave me alone. Nobody cares about me anymore. I'm not news. Move on to someone else, okay?"

"Of course you're news, Charlie. You're still the most popular Quidditch player in America. My readers are dying to hear all about you. You are news."

Frustrated, Charlie released her arms. "Please, as a favor to an old friend. I'm not saying you took her dress, but would you please help me find it? You're a good reporter; a real nose for digging out stories. You've helped me before and I'll always be grateful. I know you can find it." He reached up and stroked her check. "Please," he whispered.

Linda blushed and her breath caught in her throat. She started to protest; to yell and scream at him, but she couldn't do it. She put her hand over his and pushed it away. "Oh, all right. I'll see what I can do. Don't expect miracles."

He grinned. Leaning in, his lips brushed across hers lightly. "Thanks, baby," he said, his voice low and sexy.

"Oh get out," she said brusquely.

He walked to the door and turned. He smiled at her. She rolled her eyes. "No promises," she said.

"I know, but I have faith in you." He closed to door behind him and walked downstairs.

Addison was chewing her fingernails and Ginny looked at him and shook her head.

"We were about to come in after you. What happened?" Ginny asked.

"She said she'd help me look for the dress," he said.

"She took it?" Ginny asked.

Charlie shrugged. "Who knows?"

At precisely 11:45 pm, a garment bag was delivered to the Burrow without a note or explanation. Inside was Gretchen's wedding dress. Everyone examined the dress for tears, rips, or curses, but there was no indication that there was anything wrong or out of place.

Gretchen had her dress and the wedding was on.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Okay so I'm cheating a little with my Professor Flitwick Challenge of the Day. But since I was writing the chapter anyway… The prompt was perfect day. And what could be more perfect than a woman's wedding day? Unless, of course she happens to be marrying Charlie Weasley. For those not following my story, this is Chapter 20 of Christmas at the Burrow, my latest Charlie Weasley adventure.-Rita**

The Perfect Day

_The day was perfect. She was perfect, beautiful, flawless. Everyone sighed happily as she walked down the aisle on her father's arm. He smiled at her as he put her hand in Charlie's. Her wedding day. Everything was pretty much a blur until it came to the part when the wizard who presided over the ceremony asked if there were any objections. Suddenly dozens, then it seemed like hundreds of women, all beautiful and slim and more perfect stepped up. "We object," they said together._

Gretchen sat up suddenly as her breath caught in her throat. It was just a dream, she thought as she raked her fingers through her hair, trying to get the image out of her head. The dream that startled her awake was one of a series of dreams she had all night about her wedding each more horrendous and bizarre than the one before.

Charlie was not with her. Her parents had insisted that she sleep alone on her last night of maidenhood. She cringed at the word. He took it rather well and told her he'd spend the night with his brothers. It was a Weasley tradition, he said. He kissed her goodnight and then he was gone. She was left alone with her insecurities and doubts. Would he be there tomorrow? Would she?

As soon as it was daylight, Gretchen got up and took a shower. Her suite was quiet; obviously the rest of her family had not had the trouble sleeping that she did. She suspected her mother was probably awake but she didn't want to bother her. Right now, she just wanted to be alone.

She stared at the white garment bag that had mysteriously appeared late the night before. Her wedding dress. She felt foolish for yelling at Charlie over _that reporter, _Linda Martinez. She wondered how he'd talked her into giving the dress back. Closing her eyes, she did not want that picture in her head. What promises had he made to her? Had he charmed her? She sighed. He was quite the charmer, she thought.

Gretchen had no idea what Charlie saw in her. She was on the curvy side and her breasts were too big. She liked her hair and she didn't consider herself hideous looking, but she wasn't a great beauty. She had a good sense of humor and, except for her dislike of being center stage; she carried a serene quality about her. She adored children, Ingrid especially, and she knew that Charlie would always put Ingrid ahead of her. She wanted to have his children, but when she approached the subject, Charlie made a face and said he didn't like kids; Ingrid was the exception. She hoped she could change his mind because he was a doting and devoted father. She would love to have a couple of Charlie juniors running around to complete her life.

She hated his celebrity status. It would be so much better if he was simply, Charlie, the dragon wrangler. Although she didn't share his enthusiasm for dragons and magical creatures, he loved his work at the North American Dragon Preserve, so she supported him because it made him happy. Charlie had just bought a home next to his friend Mike Hendershot so he could be home when he got off work. The home was beautiful, but it was far away from her work at the Pflugerville, Texas branch of _Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes_ and her family and it was out in the middle of nowhere. She was glad Minnie, Charlie's house elf, kept the house and Ingrid. She was good company. The only person Gretchen would have to talk to to other than Minnie was Lindsey Hendershot, Mike's muggle wife. As it turned out, Lindsey just happened to be Ingrid's mother's cousin; a constant reminder of Jessica. She was smart enough to know that Charlie had deeply loved Jessica and would have married her if she'd said yes.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft rapping at her door. "Come in," she said.

Charlie opened the door and peered in. "Wasn't sure you'd want to see me before the wedding; some superstitious rubbish. Mum wanted to invite you over. The whole family's here and we're going to be opening Christmas presents. It's for the grandkids mostly. Want to come?"

Gretchen smiled and walked over and kissed him. "Sounds like fun. I have everyone's presents here. I wasn't sure when I could give them out."

"That was very nice of you," he said. He sounded a bit formal with her. She caught his tone, but she didn't want to dwell on it. Was he having second thoughts about the wedding? She searched his face for any sign of reluctance, but he merely smiled as he helped her put on her coat.

"Is it snowing? Roxie would love a white Christmas," she said conversationally as they walked out into the hall.

Charlie shook his head. "Not this year. It doesn't snow that much here. It's very cold, though."

No more conversation, she decided as they walked the short distance outside to the Burrow. He held her hand but seemed to be content just walking next to her.

"Charlie," Gretchen began. He turned to her. She stopped and Charlie saw that she was shaking.

"Are you cold?" he started to wrap his arms around her, but she quickly shook her head.

"No, I wanted to ask you something."

He looked at her expectantly. "Yes?" He seemed perfectly fine; like he didn't suspect what she was about to say.

"Are we doing the right thing?" she asked. "Are you real sure you want to do this?"

Charlie actually laughed and shook his head. "I owe Bill one hundred galleons," he said. "He bet me you try to back out of the wedding again."

"I'm not trying to back out, Charlie. I just want to make sure that this is what you want."

He smile on his face didn't fade. He took her hands in his. They were icy, but Charlie suspected it wasn't from the cold. He kissed her hands rubbed them to warm them up. "Are you sure you want to marry me?" he asked back at her.

Tears were falling from her eyes and he kissed them away.

"Yes, Charlie. I can't imagine my life without you."

"Well, Gretchen," he said. "I feel the same way."

She looked into her face; he meant it, she thought. She threw her arms around him and he picked her up and swept her into his arms.

"We need to hurry," he said. "Everyone's waiting."

They stepped up their pace to the Burrow. He took her inside, and she was surprised to see that her family was waiting for them inside. The front room seemed to be very crowded, Gretchen thought. She knew he had a big family, but there seemed to be a lot of people and they seemed to be waiting for Charlie and Gretchen.

"Ah, there's the happy couple," Arthur said, smiling broadly.

Ingrid came from behind her grandfather and she was wearing the dress Gretchen had bought in New York. Everyone seemed to be overdressed, she thought. _What was going on?_

Charlie saw her expression and began laughing. "Everyone was afraid you were going to change your mind before this evening, so we decided to have a surprise wedding."

"What? You what?" Gretchen was stunned.

"Yeah, hope you don't mind. Better get upstairs and put your dress on. The family's getting anxious."

Addison jumped from the crowd and herded her and the maid of honor up the stairs where her wedding dress awaited. Charlie ducked into the kitchen and changed his clothes as well. His brothers and father stood with him as he held Ingrid in his arms. She was delighted to be in on the secret and couldn't stop giggling.

"We sure did surprise her, didn't we, Daddy?" she giggled.

"Yes we did," he said kissing her check. "Where's my best man?" he called out.

Joanna was dressed in a beautiful gown that complemented her eyes and hair. She was nervous, too, but she stood proudly next to her best friend. Jordan was there holding their children and Charlie thought he looked more in love with Joanna than the day they married.

It was going to be a perfect day, Charlie thought as he watched Gretchen descend the stairs. She was so beautiful she took his breath away. Everyone watched as she met him at the front of the room. She was crying, but she was there, and it was happening. She was about to become Mrs. Charlie Weasley.


End file.
